Liszt Macabre

Featuring

Nathanaël Gouin
Franz Liszt

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt, a deeply religious and mystical figure, viewed death not as an end, but as the 'cradle of the life to come'.

Composition History

Liszt's Totentanz (Dance of Death) was inspired by Holbein's engravings of The Dance of Death and Buffalmacco's frescoes of The Triumph of Death in Pisa.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt's later works, which explored beyond traditional tonality, were described by Richard Wagner as 'folie en germe' (the seed of madness).

Critical Reception

Liszt's Csárdás macabre was initially refused by his publisher and was not published until 1952, despite Béla Bartók's attempt to publish it in 1912.

Compositional Technique

In Totentanz, Liszt uses musical effects such as rumbling bass, clattering cadences, macabre trills, and glissandi to depict skeletons dancing and the Grim Reaper.