Скачать или смотреть Symphonic Poem No.11 "Hunnenschlacht" (for solo piano) - Ludwig Stark/Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt: Hunnenschlacht – Poème symphonique No.11 (transcribed for solo piano by Ludwig Stark).

Hunnenschlacht is the only one of the twelve symphonic poems inspired by a painting or, to be precise, a fresco by Wilhelm von Kaulbach. The gruesome battle this depicts is treated by Liszt in the stormiest way as far as the pagan warriors are concerned, whereas the Christians who ultimately triumphed are essentially airbrushed into chaste purity, represented by the plainchant Pange lingua gloriosi. Their victory is underlined by Liszt’s inclusion of the organ is the orchestral score – the only time this instrument appears in the syphonic poems. (The very much later independent symphonic poem Von die Wiege bis zum Grabe (From the cradle to the grave) of 1883 is also inspired by a painting, in this case by Mihály Zichy. Liszt did not arrange this piece for two pianos). (notes by Leslie Howard)


Liszt was motivated to compose Hunnenschlacht ('Battle of the Huns', No. 11), first performed in Weimar in 1857, inspired by the painter Wilhelm von Kaulbach’s epic mural of the same name. In two introductions to the piece (one each in German and French that differed considerably), Liszt related a conversation with Kaulbach about the historical battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451 AD, when the invasion of Gaul by Attila and the Huns was halted by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and the Visigothic King Theodoric I. Kaulbach filled his work with what he saw as the opposing dichotomy of the armies, that of barbarism and civilization, dark and light. In Liszt’s imagination, the battle became a soundscape: "The musician thought that he heard in the midst of a sanguinary fight the cries of the wounded, the imprecations of the conquered, the groans of the dying, mingling in a terrible chorus, while at the same time as if coming from a distance he recognized the accents of a prayer, the sacred hymn, mounting to heaven from the depths of the cloister, whose silence it alone breaks. The more deafening the tumult of the battle became, the more this hymn increased in force and power."

Martial motifs represent the fighting itself, the Huns (0:57 - a violent sprawl of triads across two octaves) and the Romans (1:51 - a starkly disciplined brass fanfare), while the organ-intoned Gregorian hymn Crux fidelis (6:05) is ultimately triumphant. The ebb and flow of motifs obviates the use of those conventional forms that Liszt had sometimes employed in earlier symphonic poems, though a certain confusion prevails. Michael Saffle noted that: "There is no real need for detailed structural analysis where the 'Battle of the Huns' is concerned. In this work, we encounter 'real' program music: here is a frank portrayal in sound of pitched battle and, more specifically, of barbarians being beaten back and Christians winning the day (the barbarians get much of the liveliest music, though. They often do)." (notes by William Melton)

The original fresco by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (Liszt's inspiration): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunne...

August Stradal's transcription:    • Symphonic Poem No.11 "Hunnenschlacht" (pia...  


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