How does a Romantic composer approach the poetry he sets: as raw material to be remade, a pretext for self-expression, a sanctified artefact, or a message to be illustrated with music? In my book, I examine Franz Liszt's songs for voice and piano, which remain little known to scholars, artists, and music lovers alike. The objective is to present Liszt's songs in all their complexity and diversity as well as identifying the key elements of the composer's broadly understood song-writing technique - both those that make him unique and those that relate him to the European tradition. This approach also makes it possible to shed light on a major though previously neglected aspect of the composer's workshop, namely, his work with the poetic text, which to Liszt was just as important as the musical setting.

About the Author
Malgorzata Gamrat (PhD 2012: Jagiellonian University / Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Paris) is senior lecturer at the Catholic University of Lublin. She authored two books on Liszt's music and is the co-editor of volumes on philosophy of music, composers' emigrations, Joseph von Eichendorff, new musicology, dialects in literature.


Book Information
ISBN 9789004548855
Author Malgorzata Gamrat
Format Hardback
Page Count 392
Imprint Brill
Publisher Brill
Weight(grams) 795g