Tamás Ittzés:
Franz Liszt's Influence
On The Ragtime And Swing Era
- historical and musical parallelisms -


IV
Liszt: the virtuoso musician of the salons

‘May the artist of the future gladly and readily decline to play the conceited and egotistical role which we hope has had in Paganini its last brilliant representative. May he set his goal within, and not outside, himself, and be the means of virtuosity, and not its end. May he constantly keep in mind that, though the saying is ‘Noblesse oblige!’, in a far higher degree than nobility - GÉNIE OBLIGE!’(14)
(Franz Liszt, 1840)

‘I really don’t know whether any place contains more pianists than Paris, or whether you can find anywhere more asses and virtuosos.’
(excerpt from a letter by Fryderyk Chopin)

It seems clear from the previous chapters that we have to investigate the ‘lighter’ side of Liszt to examine his influence on ragtime. His later compositions cannot be related to any ragtime pieces either regarding their style or by taking the circumstances of their writing into consideration. But Liszt, the young piano virtuoso, the showman, the favourite of elegant salons, had many characteristics that strongly affected the manner and behaviour of European and then American musicians. His compositions will also be discussed but for now, let us examine him as the favourite of the salons.

In European music it was practically always the kings and other nobles who supported the musicians and composers from whom they commissioned works and this resulted in a lord-servant relationship. Liszt was the very first who did not use the back stairs, who was treated as an equal partner by the aristocracy, and who was brave enough to criticize them even in the most awkward situations.(15) But most of the time he did not get into awkward situations as he was treated like a king. For instance, on March 3, 1842, in Berlin, the university received a whole day off when he left the city as everybody was to say farewell to the great composer and most excellent pianist of the time. His coach was drawn by six white horses, and accompanied by 30 other carriages, Prince Felix von Lichnowsky rode directly by him and the king, Wilhelm IV and the queen waved farewell to the genius from the window of their palace.(16) This admiration is almost unbelievable today, especially if we think of the letters of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven of a few decades ago, in which they asked for support and commissions from the aristocracy. Liszt, who had to do such things only as a child, totally changed the world of musicians.

As in the case of every single phenomenon being discussed in this study, the question arises here, too: would all this have happened without Liszt? Was the admiration meant for Liszt only and did he pave the way for his successors (see the relationship between Wagner and the Bavarian king, Ludwig II)? Or was this change the consequence of the ideas of liberty in the 19th century rising from the French Revolution? There is no definite answer but I am sure that even though it was surely a phenomenon of the age, it is clear that Liszt was a pioneer in this and his personality, which enchanted everyone, was more effective than other virtuosi.

How was Liszt so effective? He was hysterically admired not only by women, but musical experts, pianists and composers alike and the admiration was seldom shaded by jealous criticism. The secret of his influence was in his personality. In his romantic, unsurpassable, unrestrainable, freely rambling, intuitive nature that captured everyone in his piano playing. Probably the audience recognized their inner desires when listening to Liszt who made their souls breathe and upset their slumbering hearts. His one-time piano teacher, Carl Czerny (1791-1857), who himself was a pupil of Beethoven, remembered that when he started to teach Liszt, he was a ‘naturalistic pianist who always plays according to feeling, wild and exaggerated’. But later he also stated, ‘I never had such keen, inspired and hard-working pupil.’ Even though Liszt traind and perfected his technique very fast, his approach to the piano always remained surprisingly natural and so incredibly facile and virtuosic, causing a demonic effect and admiration of the audience. So the effect was both internal and external and Liszt achieved this with his programmes as well. ‘Di bravura’ pieces, virtuoso works of questionable quality were included, he regularly played works of his famous contemporaries (Hummel, Moscheles) and never forgot to improvise on a theme given by the audience at the end of the concert. Liszt always played a few paraphrases that he composed for himself using themes from the most popular works, mostly contemporary operas. He usually played his own fantasies, rhapsodies, generally showing off his improvising skills. His programmes were unplayable for others and were successful mostly because of their popularity in programming. Later many criticized Liszt for making such concessions to the audience. It is important to mention that the quotation appearing at the beginning of this chapter was written by Liszt when he was 28. This means that he realized the inclination for shallowness of the artist on the concert circuit at a relatively early age. Even though he tried to avoid these dangers, it was mainly this opinion that led him to quit giving concerts in 1847, devoting his time to composing and teaching. Ragtime could be influenced only by Liszt's earlier achievements as a pianist and composer. The direct and indirect influence of his later works can be discovered in the swing era to some extent.

  • 14. The quotation is from the obituary Liszt wrote on Paganini’s death and which was printed in the Gazette Musicale on August 23, 1840. Liszt, however, admired Paganini’s virtuosity from the first time he met him and even later he ‘only’ criticized the impulse behind his virtuosity. (back to the main text)
  • 15. There is an anecdote about one of Liszt’s concerts in St. Petersburg: Tsar Nicholas I arrived late and then started to talk. Liszt stopped playing and silently bowed his head at the piano. When Nicholas asked him why he was not playing, Liszt answered, ‘Music herself should be silent when Nicholas speaks.’ (back to the main text)
  • 16. Liszt was so much admired by European royal families that French papers even spread the astounding gossip that he was to marry Queen Isabelle II of Spain. (back to the main text)

    Contents
    Introduction
    I: What Is Ragtime?
    II: Ragtime in Liszt's Age
    III: Music of the 19th Century In America
    IV: Liszt: The Virtuoso Musician of the Salons
    V: The American Liszt: Louis Moreau Gottschalk
    VI: Liszt's pupils and contemporaries in America
    VII: Liszt and European romanticism in American music education
    VIII: Liszt and ragtime regarding piano technique and harmonization
    IX: Popularity of Liszt's works in America - piano rolls
    What became a hit?

    X: European masters in ragtime and swing
    XI: The national character of Liszt’s music
    National music in America, exotic features in ragtime and jazz

    XII: Liszt and the opera - ragtime and jazz examples
    XIII: From ragtime to swing - progress in music and society
    XIV: Progressive features in Liszt’s late art
    XV: How Liszt, Chopin, Debussy and Ravel influenced swing
    XVI: Symphonic poems - Philosophy and religion expressed in music
    XVII: Liszt and Bartók
    XVIII: Liszt as a predecessor of modern jazz - building on fourths
    XIX: Did Liszt influence 20th century music through jazz?
    XX: Who if not Liszt?
    XXI: Epilogue
    Sources

  • Copyright © 2003 Tamás Ittzés.
    All rights reserved.