12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 26: Liebesträume (Dreams of Love) No. 3

by Franz Liszt

Performer: Martha Goldstein

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Published in 1850, Franz Liszt's 'Liebesträume (Dreams of Love), S. 541' consists of three solo piano lieder. Lieder are poems set to classical music. Liszt based 'Liebesträume' on three poems featuring variations of love: 1) Religious love, 2) Ardent love, and 3) Enduring love [2]. This recording features Liebesträume No. 3, the last composition.

Vocabulary

Lied (pl. Lieder): An art song, sung in German and accompanied on the piano.

Composer

1. Franz was only sixteen years old when his father died. They had been good comrades, had traveled together and talked with one another about music and musicians. The boy must have grieved keenly over the loss of so good and kind a companion as his father had been. But he went earnestly to work to earn a living for his mother and himself. He knew many famous people and we may be sure that everyone helped him. Here are two of Franz's friends of that time.
2. One was an author and poet named Victor Hugo. Hugo wrote two famous novels named 'Les Misérables' and 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.'

3. The other was the famous composer, Frédéric Chopin.

4. I am sure you will like to know how Liszt looked as he sat at the piano. Here he sits playing. You see he had only a simple kind of piano. But he mastered it so thoroughly that he could make people wonder at his art. That is what we learn from the lives of famous people. They are always true to their talent.

5. After Liszt had traveled many years over Europe (he never visited the United States), he became conductor at the Court Theatre at Weimar. This new music work interested him so much that he gave up travel as a concert pianist. He helped many composers by having their operas performed at the Weimar Theatre. Some of the operas that had their first performance there are now famous indeed.
6. Among these were 'Lohengrin,' 'Tannhauser' and 'The Flying Dutchman' by Richard Wagner.

7. Then there were 'Genoveva' and 'Manfred' by Robert Schumann.

8. Also 'Alfonzo and Estrella' by Franz Schubert was given. It would have delighted Schubert's heart if he could have heard this; but he, poor man, had died some years before.

9. Then Liszt did something else at Weimar that endeared him to hosts of pianists. He held classes and taught the secrets of his wonderful playing to those who were talented and could understand. He was the soul of generosity. When someone, who was gifted but could not pay, came for advice, he gave it freely. When concerts did not pay, he himself often took the loss so that others should not suffer.
10. Is it not wonderful to think of a man, so loved by the public, giving with such great generosity? Truly it is better to give than to receive. Here is Liszt with some of his pupils

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Franz Liszt was born in Hungary.
• What is the name of the capital city of Hungary?

Activity 4: Write a One-Page Paper About Franz Liszt

Read these facts about Franz Liszt and write a one-page story out of them, using your own words.

• Franz Liszt was born in Raiding, in Hungary.
• His birthday is October 22, 1811.
• His father was his first teacher.
• He studied piano in Vienna with Carl Czerny.
• Then he went to Paris.
• Among Liszt's boyhood friends were Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin.
• After many years as a concert pianist, Liszt became opera conductor at Weimar.
• He brought out many of the operas of Richard Wagner.
• He was a great teacher of piano, and many people from Europe and from the United States studied with him.
• He composed many fine works.
• Among them are arrangements of many of Schubert's songs.
• Liszt died in Rome in 1886. He was seventy-five years old.
• Liszt wrote the life of his friend Frederic Chopin.
• It has been said that no musician ever lived who did so much for others as Franz Liszt.

Review

Question 1

Who were two of Liszt's famous friends?

1 / 3

Answer 1

Liszt's famous friends included the author and poet Victor Hugo and the composer Frédéric Chopin.

1 / 3

Question 2

What did Liszt do for work in addition to composition?

2 / 3

Answer 2

Liszt also worked as a teacher and a conductor.

2 / 3

Question 3

In which French city did Liszt live?

3 / 3

Answer 3

Liszt went to live in Paris, France.

3 / 3

❮ ❯

1. Who were two of Liszt's famous friends? Liszt's famous friends included the author and poet Victor Hugo and the composer Frédéric Chopin.
2. What did Liszt do for work in addition to composition? Liszt also worked as a teacher and a conductor.
3. In which French city did Liszt live? Liszt went to live in Paris, France.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Franz Liszt - The Story of a Boy Who Became a Great Pianist and Teacher. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1921.

'Liebesträume.' Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebesträume. n.p.