Song of the day – Les Préludes S.80b by Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

Composed in 1848, this work, is the third symphonic poem, based on the catalog of Humphrey Searle of the thirteen poems written by the composer. The work was directed by Liszt himself on the day of his debut, February 23, 1854, in a concert at the Hoftheater in Weimar.

1
Curiously during World War II, the Germans used excerpts from the fanfare of the final march to announce their victory in the messages issued.

"Les Préludes" was written for a large orchestra. In the title we have "Les Préludes (d'après Lamartine)" a reference to the poem "Nouvelles Méditations Poétiques" of 1823, by Alphonse de Lamartine (1790 - 1869).

However, the piece was originally conceived as the opening of the work "Les quatres éléments", inspired by the scenarios of four poems by Frenchman Joseph Autran (1813 - 1877) (La terre, Les Aquiles, Les Flotse, and Les Astres), It seems that Liszt took steps to obscure the origin of the work, and this included the destruction of the cover page of the original opening, and the reclassification of the piece to Lamartine's poem.

The first version of the 1856 score includes the following text preface, written by his companion, Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

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?—Love is the glowing dawn of all existence; but what is the fate where the first delights of happiness are not interrupted by some storm, the mortal blast of which dissipates its fine illusions, the fatal lightning of which consumes its altar; and where is the cruelly wounded soul which, on issuing from one of these tempests, does not endeavour to rest his recollection in the calm serenity of life in the fields? Nevertheless man hardly gives himself up for long to the enjoyment of the beneficent stillness which at first he has shared in Nature's bosom, and when "the trumpet sounds the alarm", he hastens, to the dangerous post, whatever the war may be, which calls him to its ranks, in order at last to recover in the combat full consciousness of himself and entire possession of his energy. 2

Subsequently this preface was subtracted, withdrawn, and replaced with little or no reference to Lamartine's poems. The fact, which entered into history, was that this was the first orchestral work, which received the title of "Symphonic Poem".

In a letter to Franz Brendel of February 20, 1854, Liszt simply called this piece"a new orchestral work of mine (Les préludes)". Two days later, in an announcement in the Weimarische Zeitung of February 22, 1854, referring to the concert of 23, was "Les Préludes - Symphonische Dichtung". And the term "symphonic poem" was thus invented.

The sessions are:

Question (Introduction and Andante maestoso)
Love
Storm
Bucolic calm
Battle and victory

In a performance of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, 1998, under the regency of Daniel Barenboim.

I hope you like it!

A great Hug!
Guilherme Faquetti
June 09, 2018

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References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Franz_Liszt
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Pr%C3%A9ludes_(Liszt)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_préludes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Autran
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Préludes_(Liszt)