Totentanz (Dance of Death), (Paraphrase on "Dies irae" for Pianoforte and Orchestra, S.126) is the name of a symphonic piece for solo piano and orchestra by Franz Liszt, which is notable for being based on the Gregorian plainchant melody Dies Irae as well as for daring stylistic innovations. The piece was originally planned in 1838 and completed in 1849; it was then revised twice however, in 1853 and 1859. A symphony is an extended piece of music for orchestra, especially one in the form of a sonata. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... For the song titled Orchestra, see The Servant (band). ... “Liszt” redirects here. ... For information on the calendar, see: Gregorian Calendar For the music style, see: Gregorian chant For medieval usage see: Gregorian reform For the music group see: Gregorian (music group) For the University in Rome: Gregorian University This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise... Broadly speaking, plainsong is the name given to the body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. ... For other uses, see Dies Irae (disambiguation). ...

Obsession with Death

Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as Totentanz, Funérailles, La Lugubre gondola, Pensée des morts, etc., show the composer's fascination with death. In the young Liszt we can already observe manifestations of his obsession with death, with religion, and with heaven and hell: Liszt was an enthusiastic Catholic, and he devoured Dante's Divine Comedy. According to Alan Walker,^[1] Liszt frequented Parisian "hospitals, gambling casinos and asylums" in the early 1830s, and he even went down into prison dungeons in order to see those condemned to die. The elegy Funérailles, written in the later part of 1849, is the 7th piece in the collection of piano pieces by Franz Liszt entitled Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses (Poetic and Religious Harmonies). ... E. H. Langlois The fascination with death extends back as far as history tells. ... DANTE is also a digital audio network. ... Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ... Sir Alan Walker, Kt. ...

In no way though is this obsession with death an isolated phenomenon in European culture.[[Image:holbein-death.png|frame|The Dance of Death (Totentanz) from Liber Chronicarum [Nuremberg Chronicle], 1493, attr. to Hans Holbein the Younger. The traumatic impact of the Black Death inspired a rich tradition of "Totentanz", "Danse Macabre", or "Triumph of Death", paintings; and since the Middle Ages, throughout the Renaissance until today, painters, such as Bosch, Brueghel, Holbein, and many others, have ritually cleansed our subconscious of this archetypal fear with fantastic, and sometimes humorously horrible, images of dancing corpses and armies of skeletons. Those images contained a moral message as well: they were to remind us of how fragile our bodies were and how vain the glories of earthly life are. From The Dance of Death by Hans Holbein La Danse Macabre, also called Dance of death, La Danza Macabra, or Totentanz, is a late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter ones station in life, the dance of death united all. ... Depiction of God creating the world Juvenal The Nuremberg Chronicle is one of the best documented early printed books. ... A 1543 portrait miniature of Hans Holbein the Younger by Lucas Horenbout Holbeins 1533 painting The Ambassadors Hans Holbein the Younger (c. ... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ... This article is about La Dance Macabre, the late-medieval allegory. ... The Dance of Death (1493) by Michael Wolgemut, from the Liber chronicarum by Hartmann Schedel. ... The Triumph of Death The Triumph of Death is an oil on panel, approximately 117 by 162 centimeters, painted c. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... Bosch is the colloquial short name for the German company Robert Bosch GmbH, as well as the last name of: Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) - Dutch painter Robert Bosch (1861-1942) - German industrialist Carl Bosch (1874-1940) - German chemist and engineer Juan Bosch (1909-2001) - Dominican politician and writer Orlando Bosch... Brueghel or Bruegel (Pronounced in Dutch) was the name of several Dutch/Flemish painters from the same family line: Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. ... Hans Holbein is the name of two German Renaissance painters: Hans Holbein the Elder (1460-1524) Hans Holbein the Younger (c. ... Personal life (or everyday life or human existence) is an individual humans personal, private career (including, but not the same as, their employment career), and is a common notion in modern existence -- although more so in more prosperous parts of the world, such as Western Europe and North America...

Sources of Inspiration

In the Romantic age, due to a fascination with everything Medieval, the aspect of fantastic or grotesquely macabre irony often replaced the original moral intent. A musical example of such irony can be found in the last movement of the Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz which quotes the medieval (Gregorian) Dies Irae (Day of Judgment) melody in a shockingly modernistic manner. In 1830 Liszt attended the first performance of Berlioz’s Fantastic Symphony and was struck by the powerful originality of this work. Liszt’s Totentanz (Dance of Death), a set of variations for piano and orchestra, is also paraphrasing the Dies Irae plainsong. Romantics redirects here. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... “Ironic” redirects here. ... Symphonie fantastique (Fantastic Symphony) Opus 14, is a symphony written by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. ... Painting of Berlioz by Gustave Courbet, 1850. ... This article or section should be merged with End times and Last judgment The Last Judgement - Tympanum sculpture at the Abbey Church of Ste-Foy, Conques-en-Rouergue, France In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgement is the ethical-judicial trial, judgement, and punishment/reward of individual humans (assignment to heaven... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...

The Triumph of Death, c. 1355

Another source of inspiration for the young Liszt was the famous fresco "Triumph of Death" by Francesco Traini (at Liszt's time attributed to Andrea Orcagna and today also to Buonamico Buffalmacco) in the Campo Santo, Pisa. Liszt had eloped to Italy with his mistress, the Countess d’Agoult, and in 1838 he visited Pisa. Only ten years later, Liszt’s first sketches materialized into a complete version of his Totentanz. Revisions followed in 1853 and 1859, and its final form was first performed at The Hague on 15 April 1865 by Liszt’s student Hans von Bülow, to whom the work is dedicated. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 291 pixelsFull resolution (5120 × 1860 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 291 pixelsFull resolution (5120 × 1860 pixel, file size: 1. ... For other uses, see Fresco (disambiguation). ... Francesco Traini was an Italian Painter who was demonstrably active from 1321 to approx. ... Andrea di Cione Arcangelo (c. ... Buonamico di Martino or Buonamico Buffalmacco (active c. ... Campo Santo (Latin, campus sanctus, holy field) is an Italian and Spanish name for a burial-place or cemetery. ... Leaning Tower of Pisa. ... Marie Catherine Sophie de Flavigny, Vicomtesse de Flavigny (December 31, 1805 - March 5, 1876), known also by her married name and title, Marie, Comtesse dAgoult, and by her pen name, Daniel Stern; an author and a paramour of Franz Liszt. ... Coordinates: , Country Netherlands Province South Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 98. ... Hans von Bülow. ...

Stylistic Innovations

Since it is based on Gregorian material, Liszt’s Totentanz contains Medieval sounding passages with canonic counterpoint, but by far the most innovative aspect of the scoring is the shockingly modernistic, even percussive, nature of the piano part. The opening comes surprisingly close to the introduction in Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, a work composed almost a hundred years later. This may be no coincidence since Bartók frequently performed Liszt’s Totentanz. Other modernistic features are the toccata like sections where the pianist’s repeated notes bleat with diabolic intensity and special sound effects in the orchestra—for example, the col legno in the strings sound like shuddering or clanking bones. Richard Pohl (an early biographer) notes, "Every variation discloses some new character—the earnest man, the flighty youth, the scornful doubter, the prayerful monk, the daring soldier, the tender maiden, the playful child." In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e. ... In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... Béla Bartók in 1927 Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ... Sonata for two pianos and percussion Bela Bartok wrote this piece for the ISCM, and it was performed by him and his second wife, Ditta Pasztory-Bartok, at the ISCM anniversery concert of 16th January 1938. ... Toccata (Italian for to touch) is a Virtuoso piece of classical music for a keyboard instrument or plucked string instrument featuring sections of brilliant passagework, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer. ... Col legno (Italian for with the wood) is a method of playing bowed string instruments (particularly the violin, viola, cello, and double bass) whereby the strings are struck with the wood of the bow rather having the hair pulled across them. ... Richard Pohl (September 12, 1826–December 17, 1896) was a German music critic, writer, poet, and amateur composer. ...

Extant Versions

Like most Liszt pieces, a number of versions exist. Besides the first version of the Totentanz a De Profundis version has been prepared from manuscript sources by Ferruccio Busoni (1919). The standard version is the final third version of the piece (1859). Besides these a two piano as well as a solo piano version by Liszt can be found. De profundis (literally from the depths) are the first two words of the Latin translation of psalm 129 (130), one of the seven Penitential Psalms (psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143): De profundis clamavi ad te Domine (From the depths, I cried to you, Lord!) De profundis... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ...

Notable Performers

Besides the performances by Hans von Bülow, Bartók, Rachmaninov and Busoni, performances of historic significance include those of the Liszt student José Vianna da Motta (1945 - Port Nat S IPL 108), as well as György Cziffra (EMI 74012 2), Claudio Arrau, Jorge Bolet (Decca), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1961 - Arkadia HP 507.1; 1962 - Memoria 999-001) and Byron Janis (RCA). Hans von Bülow. ... Béla Bartók in 1927 Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ... Portrait of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1925) by Konstantin Somov This article is about the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. ... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... José Vianna da Motta (São Tomé, April 22, 1868-Lisbon, June 1, 1948) was a Portuguese pianist, teacher, and composer. ... Georges Cziffra on an EMI DVD cover Georges (originally György) Cziffra (November 5, 1921–January 17, 1994) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist. ... Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a Chilean pianist of world fame for his deep interpretations of a huge, vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers. ... Jorge Bolet (November 15, 1914–October 16, 1990) was a pianist and conductor. ... Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (January 5, 1920–June 12, 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. ... Byron (Yankelevitch) Janis (born March 24, 1928) is an American pianist widely considered to be one of the twentieth centurys greatest musicians (Classical CD). ...

Media

Totentanz
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Image File history File links Liszt_Totentanz. ...

Notes

1. ^ Walker, Alan (1983). Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years 1811-1847. Faber and Faber. 

Sir Alan Walker, Kt. ...

External links

• Totentanz (Piano and Orchestra, S.126), (Two piano version, S.652), (Solo piano version, S.525): Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.