Page 68 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
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glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
This paper treats excerpts of this journalistic dispute from the perspec-
tive of reception history and thereby focuses on one of “non-musical” since
biographically oriented evaluation criteria. The aim is to understand the
role that perceptions of Franz Liszt’s religious convictions played in the de-
bate about his symphonic programme music; i. e. in what way the selected
reviewers’ music criticism deployed this non-musical evaluative criterion –
for what purposes and with what intentions.
No composer other than Liszt has had their religious beliefs subject to
such public scrutiny in the reception of their symphonic programme mu-
sic.3 This is due on the one hand to Liszt’s personal attitude towards the
Christian religion4 and on the other to the specific themes treated in some
of his symphonic programmes. In some compositions, the reference to reli-
gious themes is obvious from their title or the programme, as with The Bat-
tle of the Huns (Symphonic Poem No. 11), which was written in response to
the painting of the same name by the painter Wilhelm Kaulbach, known
3 The reception of Goldmark’s Ländliche Hochzeit, for example, proves to be only mar-
ginally influenced by his Jewish faith. Accordingly, in the reviews of the Viennese
premiere of this work in 1876, allusions to Goldmark’s religious references can only
be found in Ludwig Speidel’s review, discussed in detail by David Brodbeck. See:
Anon., “(Musikalische Aufführungen.),” Fremden-Blatt. Morgen-Blatt 68 (9 March
1876): 6. The reviews written for the second and, for the century, last performance
of this work in 1891 are free of such references. Goldmark was nevertheless repeate-
dly subjected to anti-Semitic criticism, especially in the later decades of the century,
but in particular reference to his two operas Die Königin von Saba and Merlin, as is
also discussed by Brodbeck. The Viennese discourse on Goldmark’s symphonic pro-
gramme music is only negligibly influenced by his religion. David Brodbeck, Defi-
ning Deutschtum. Political Ideology, German Identity, and MusicCritical Discourse
in Liberal Vienna (= The New Cultural History of Music Series) (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2014), 101–5, 199–248, 290–308.
4 The complex area of Liszt’s religious faith cannot be dealt with in depth in this publi-
cation due to the reception-aesthetic perspective on which it is based. For an intro-
duction to the subject see, among others, Paul Merrick, Revolution and Religion in
the Music of Franz Liszt (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978),
esp. 3–87; Ralph P. Locke, “Liszt on the Artist in Society,” in Franz Liszt and His
World (= The Bard Music Festival Princeton), ed. Christopher H. Gibbs and Dana
Gooley (Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006), 295–6; Rena Char-
nin Mueller, “From the Biographer’s Workshop: Lina Ramann’s Questionnaires to
Liszt,” trans. Susan Hohl, in Franz Liszt and His World (= The Bard Music Festival
Princeton), ed. Christopher H. Gibbs and Dana Gooley (Princeton, Oxford: Prince-
ton University Press, 2006), 362; Alan Walker, Franz Liszt, 3 vols., vol. 2: The Weimar
Years 1848–1861 (= Great Composer Series) (New York: Cornell University Press,
1993), 11–2, 406–7 and 544; Alan Walker, Franz Liszt, 3 vols., vol. 3: The Final Years.
1861–1886 (= Great Composer Series) (New York: Cornell University Press, 1996),
10–1, 55, 69–70 and 85–91.
68
This paper treats excerpts of this journalistic dispute from the perspec-
tive of reception history and thereby focuses on one of “non-musical” since
biographically oriented evaluation criteria. The aim is to understand the
role that perceptions of Franz Liszt’s religious convictions played in the de-
bate about his symphonic programme music; i. e. in what way the selected
reviewers’ music criticism deployed this non-musical evaluative criterion –
for what purposes and with what intentions.
No composer other than Liszt has had their religious beliefs subject to
such public scrutiny in the reception of their symphonic programme mu-
sic.3 This is due on the one hand to Liszt’s personal attitude towards the
Christian religion4 and on the other to the specific themes treated in some
of his symphonic programmes. In some compositions, the reference to reli-
gious themes is obvious from their title or the programme, as with The Bat-
tle of the Huns (Symphonic Poem No. 11), which was written in response to
the painting of the same name by the painter Wilhelm Kaulbach, known
3 The reception of Goldmark’s Ländliche Hochzeit, for example, proves to be only mar-
ginally influenced by his Jewish faith. Accordingly, in the reviews of the Viennese
premiere of this work in 1876, allusions to Goldmark’s religious references can only
be found in Ludwig Speidel’s review, discussed in detail by David Brodbeck. See:
Anon., “(Musikalische Aufführungen.),” Fremden-Blatt. Morgen-Blatt 68 (9 March
1876): 6. The reviews written for the second and, for the century, last performance
of this work in 1891 are free of such references. Goldmark was nevertheless repeate-
dly subjected to anti-Semitic criticism, especially in the later decades of the century,
but in particular reference to his two operas Die Königin von Saba and Merlin, as is
also discussed by Brodbeck. The Viennese discourse on Goldmark’s symphonic pro-
gramme music is only negligibly influenced by his religion. David Brodbeck, Defi-
ning Deutschtum. Political Ideology, German Identity, and MusicCritical Discourse
in Liberal Vienna (= The New Cultural History of Music Series) (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2014), 101–5, 199–248, 290–308.
4 The complex area of Liszt’s religious faith cannot be dealt with in depth in this publi-
cation due to the reception-aesthetic perspective on which it is based. For an intro-
duction to the subject see, among others, Paul Merrick, Revolution and Religion in
the Music of Franz Liszt (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978),
esp. 3–87; Ralph P. Locke, “Liszt on the Artist in Society,” in Franz Liszt and His
World (= The Bard Music Festival Princeton), ed. Christopher H. Gibbs and Dana
Gooley (Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006), 295–6; Rena Char-
nin Mueller, “From the Biographer’s Workshop: Lina Ramann’s Questionnaires to
Liszt,” trans. Susan Hohl, in Franz Liszt and His World (= The Bard Music Festival
Princeton), ed. Christopher H. Gibbs and Dana Gooley (Princeton, Oxford: Prince-
ton University Press, 2006), 362; Alan Walker, Franz Liszt, 3 vols., vol. 2: The Weimar
Years 1848–1861 (= Great Composer Series) (New York: Cornell University Press,
1993), 11–2, 406–7 and 544; Alan Walker, Franz Liszt, 3 vols., vol. 3: The Final Years.
1861–1886 (= Great Composer Series) (New York: Cornell University Press, 1996),
10–1, 55, 69–70 and 85–91.
68
