What is the story behind Les Preludes?

The origins of Les Prelude are a bit misty. It looks like it started life in a piece for male chorus and two pianos which Liszt wrote while he was traveling through France, Spain and Portugal in 1844. The words were based on a poem by a French poet Liszt met in Marseille.

What poem is Les Preludes based on?

Les Préludes (“The Beginnings”) was first conceived as an overture to Liszt’s choral cycle, Les quatre élémens (“The Four Elements”). As the piece developed, it was given a new title, inspired by an Ode from Nouvelles méditations poétiques by the French poet, Alphonse de Lamartine.

How many preludes did Liszt write?

thirteen
Another critic found himself overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of the music: ‘The poetry we listened for in vain. It was lost as it were in the smoke and stunning tumult of a battlefield. ‘ Nonetheless, Les Préludes is regarded as the most popular of the thirteen symphonic poems that Liszt wrote.

What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn the first and solemn note of which is intoned by death?

Liszt drew the piece’s title from a line by French poet and statesman Alphonse de Lamartine: “What is life but a series of preludes to that unknown hymn whose first solemn note is intoned by death?” The philosophy inherent in those words led generations of critics to draw somewhat misguided parallels between the poem …

When was Les Preludes written?

1848
Les préludes/Composed

Who is the composer of the Moldau?

Bedřich Smetana
From My Fatherland (Symphonic Poems): The Moldau/Composers
About this Piece The composer who made Bohemian national music viable within and beyond Czech borders was Bedrich Smetana, himself trained in Austrian-run schools, who spoke only German as a youth, but was radicalized during the revolutionary fervor that spread across Europe during the late 1840s.

Did Liszt write symphonies?

Liszt was a slow starter as an orchestral composer until he settled in Weimar, when he made up for lost time with 12 symphonic poems, two symphonies and two piano concertos.

Did Liszt write a symphony?

The symphonic poems of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt are a series of 13 orchestral works, numbered S. 95–107. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 (though some use material conceived earlier); the last, Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe (From the Cradle to the Grave), followed in 1882.

What river is Prague built on?

the Vltava River
Flowing through the centre of the city, the Vltava River is the lifeline of Prague and has given rise to some of the city’s most important historical sights, including Charles Bridge.

Why was Vltava composed?

The Moldau was written in the 1870’s, a time when Bohemians had a renewed interest in freedom from German culture. They embraced it and the rest of Má vlast as a sort of patriotic symphonic national anthem. Research suggests this was Smetana’s intent as well.

Did Franz Liszt get married?

Operas and symphonies in Liszt’s transcriptions became valuable repertoire of many pianists. Liszt lived and travelled with the married Countess Marie D’Agoult for 12 years and they had three children.

Is Franz Liszt alive?

Deceased (1811–1886)
Franz Liszt/Living or Deceased