Liszt's 'A Hundred Years Ago'

[giles.enders]

Although Lizst is a 'sung' composer, this piece is not.  It was composed to celebrate Schiller's 100 birthday. It is a theatrical melodrama featuring actors interacting with the incidental music .  This first UK performance will take place at Cadogan Hall, London on 4th October.   Actors include Jema Redgrave and Sara Kestelman with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Also included in the concert are Hummel's Freudenfest Overture and Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier Suite.  The evening is introduced by the musicologist Gerard McBurney.

[Jonathan]

I wonder if my fellow Liszt Society members are aware of this?

[TerraEpon]

S 347 for what it's worth.

I have it listed as being for 'three speakers and orchestra'.

[Christopher]

I have it listed as being for 'three speakers and orchestra'.

Liszted, shurely...

[Mark Thomas]

Ho, ho.

[Jonathan]

I believe there is a discussion about this work on BBC radio 3 on the "In Tune" programme this afternoon.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I listened to it: it was everything Radio 3 has become - superficial. No discussion of how effective (or otherwise) the "melodrama" sections are (we never got to hear a clip of any of those). No discussion of the text, nor what McBurney had to do to make the music performable. No meat - just watery pap: an insult to the intelligent listener.

[Alan Howe]

These days Radio 3 is like Classic FM with intellectual pretensions, but no actual intellectual content. Quite honestly the members of this forum could do a better job...

[Jonathan]

I agree, R3 is a shadow of it's former self.  I actually missed the segment about the Liszt but it can't have been very long as I was only out of earshot of a radio for a short while.

[Alan Howe]

Oh for the days of Anthony Hopkins (no, not that one) and 'Talking About Music'.

[Christopher]

If allowed, will somebody be able to record it when it is broadcast, and upload it? Or is it being released commercially?

[Gareth Vaughan]

it can't have been very long as I was only out of earshot of a radio for a short while.

The interview with McBurney lasted about 5 mins, if that, preceded by about a minute's worth of purely orchestral music from the piece. That was it! Wow!!!

[Mark Thomas]

My recording of the concert is available in our Downloads board here. I've included the three minute introductory commentary and interview with the conductor as a separate file. The whole concert can be heard on the BBC web site here. Vor hundert Jahren lasts around 44 minutes, but only about a third of that is music - the rest is English dialogue, translated from the German original. Not having access to the score, I haven't attempted split this into the four tableaux mentioned in the introduction. As a prelude to Vor hundert Jahren we heard the associated purely orchestral Kunstlerfestzug, a 10 minute long piece new to me but, like the main event, best described as "occasional music". I don't think we should get too excited.

[tpaloj]

Not having access to the score, I haven't attempted split this into the four tableaux mentioned in the introduction.

I might just as well post this here; my "edition" with a piano reduction alongside the score. It's unfinished in a way - the text column in italics would be reserved for an English translation which I didn't have at the time of making it. In any case, hopefully it can be useful to you.

The BBC3 Radio performance itself was just a pleasure to listen for me - to finally hear how it all comes together. That some/most of the music (and also Kunstlerfestzug) might be classed occasionally superfluous is of course valid criticism.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/85rqn1sybytgq7b/Vor%20hundert%20Jahren%20-%20Full%20Score%20%28december%202018%29.pdf?dl=0

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks tpaloj, that's really helpful and the score really adds to the enjoyment of the melodrama. You've done a great job.