notwithstanding a certain charm and the clever manner in which
the music (without becoming minutely descriptive) supplements
the poem of Lamartine, is yet barred from the first rank by its
mawkishness of sentiment and by its cloying harmonies. The
most significant among the symphonic poems areOrpheuswith
its characteristic crescendos and diminuendos;Tassoof great
nobility and pathos, andMazeppa, a veritable tour de force of
descriptive writing. To hear any one of these masterpieces can
not fail to alter the opinion of those who may have considered
Liszt as exclusively given over to sensational effects. As for the
Hungarian Rhapsodies, which Liszt intended as a kind of na-
tional ballade and so, for the basic themes and rhythms, drew
largely on Hungarian Folk music, here again the public, with
its fondness for being dazzled, has laid exclusive stress on the
flashy ones to the detriment of those containing much that is
noble and of enduring worth. In his transcriptions of standard
songs Liszt did as valuable a public service as any popularizer,
and has thereby made familiar the melodies of Schubert and
Schumann to hundreds who otherwise would know nothing of
them. In considering Liszt’s pianoforte works we must remem-
ber that he was a born virtuoso with a natural fondness for
exploiting the possibilities of his instrument, and with an amaz-
ing technique as a performer. When the sincerity of a composer
is in question there is a great difference as to what should be
the standard of judgment, whether the work be for orchestra or
for pianoforte. In writing for orchestra the composer naturally
centres himself on the pure ideas and their treatment, as the
execution is something entirely external to himself. In works for
pianoforte, however, the composer who is also a virtuoso will of-
ten, and quite justifiably, introduce passages of purely pianistic
effect which in other circumstances would amount to a confes-
sion of deficient imagination. That Liszt at times abused his
facility in decoration need not be gainsaid, and yet how poetic
and eloquent are his best pianoforte compositions!—theÉtudes,
theWaldesrauschen, theBalladeand, above all, theSonata in
B minor.[244] Much unjust criticism has been expended upon
Liszt for treating the pianoforte like an orchestra. As a matter of
fact he widened, in a perfectly legitimate way, the possibilities
of the instrument as to sonority, wealth and variety of color-
effect. According to the testimony of contemporary colleagues,
Rubinstein, Taussig and von Bülow who, had they not been con-
vinced of his supremacy, might well have been jealous, Liszt was
ann
(Ann)
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