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Anyone looking at the title of this study, might wonder what Franz Liszt has to do with jazz. I must mention in advance that I am going to write not only about Liszt but about his era and its characteristics in society and music. I am going to examine the attitudes of composers and performers of the nineteenth century and these attitudes were far the best represented by Liszt among all of his contemporaries. Franz Liszt as composer, piano virtuoso, leading figure in society and as social phenomenon is the best representative of a European era and culture which had greater influence on ragtime and early jazz than any other age. My study is first of all about ragtime and jazz in relation to Liszt rather than about Liszt in relation to ragtime and jazz. Therefore I will include technical definitions and comments only concerning jazz. I will not try to alter the musicological picture of Liszt's achievements as there have been tons of publications on this subject. When I am referring to existing publications on Liszt, I will indicate this in the footnotes. It is my pleasant duty to thank Géza Gábor Simon, chairman of the Hungarian Society for Jazz Research for suggesting the topic of this study and for his valuable help. Help, especially in the form of important data was provided by many others as well, as indicated in the footnotes. At the same time, I have tried to decrease the number of notes about my sources. If there are no quotations or important contributions, the source is not indicated. This also means that it is listed in the bibliography. With the exception of a few important cases, e-mail and Internet sources are not given because of their frequent changes and to avoid excessive length. I apologize for including additional details and stories which, at first sight, seem to have no direct connection with the subject. I tried to put these in the footnotes and I hope that this additional material helps the reader to understand the subject and the conditions of the period and also make the whole study a bit more enjoyable.
Finally instead of the traditional ‘we’ or the third person of
most studies I shall use ‘I’. Firstly, the responsibility for
what I have written, is my own. The subject is new and, as yet,
unexplored. Many might disagree with my ideas or conclusions.
Please, feel free to suggest corrections or changes or advise me
about any mistakes. I would also be grateful for any comments,
negative or positive. Tamás Ittzés
Kecskemét, March 2003(1)
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
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