Author of a symphonic poem. “The Poem of the Mountain” and “The Poem of the End” by Marina Tsvetaeva as the Old Testament and the New Testament

This concept appeared in musical art in 1854: Hungarian composer Franz Liszt defined "symphonic poem" in his orchestral work Tasso, originally intended as an overture. With this definition, he wanted to emphasize that Tasso is not just software musical composition. It is extremely closely related to poetry in its content.

Franz Liszt. Symphonic poem "Tasso. Complaint and Triumph"
Symphony Orchestra of the All-Union Radio, dir. Nikolay Golovanov

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Subsequently, Liszt wrote twelve more symphonic poems. The most famous among them is “Preludes”. It is based on the poem “Preludes” (more precisely “Preludes”) by the French romantic poet Lamartine, in which all human life is viewed as a series of episodes - “preludes” leading to death.

Liszt’s work also developed a form that is most characteristic of a symphonic poem: free, but with obvious features of a sonata-symphonic cycle (see the story about the symphony), if it is performed without a break between movements. The diverse episodes of the symphonic poem have similarities with the main sections of the sonata form: the main and secondary parts of the exposition, development and reprise. At the same time, individual episodes of the poem can be perceived as parts of a symphony.

After Liszt, many composers turned to the genre he created. The classic of Czech music Bedřich Smetana has a cycle of symphonic poems, combined common name"My motherland". I really loved this genre German composer Richard Strauss. His Don Juan, Don Quixote, and The Merry Tricks of Till Eulenspiegel are widely known. Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote a symphonic poem “Kalevala”, based on literary source, lies the Finnish folk epic.

Russian composers preferred to give other definitions to their orchestral works of this type: fantasy overture, symphonic ballad, overture, symphonic picture .

Genre of symphonic painting , widespread in Russian music, has some differences. Its programming is not related to the plot, but paints a landscape, portrait, genre or battle scene. Everyone is probably familiar with such symphonic films as “Sadko” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “In Central Asia"Borodin, "Baba Yaga", "Kikimora" and "Magic Lake" by Lyadov.

Another variety of this genre - symphonic fantasy - also loved by Russian composers, is distinguished by greater freedom of construction, often by the presence of fantastic elements in the program.

Symphonic poem. This concept appeared in musical art in 1854: the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt gave the definition of “symphonic poem” to his orchestral work “Tasso,” originally conceived as an overture. With this definition, he wanted to emphasize that Tasso is not just a programmatic piece of music. It is extremely closely related to poetry in its content. Subsequently, Liszt wrote twelve more symphonic poems. The most famous among them is “Preludes”. It is based on the poem “Preludes” (more precisely “Preludes”) by the French romantic poet Lamartine, in which all human life is viewed as a series of episodes - “preludes” leading to death.

Liszt’s work also developed a form that is most characteristic of a symphonic poem: free, but with obvious features of a sonata-symphonic cycle, if performed without a break between parts - site. The diverse episodes of the symphonic poem have similarities with the main sections of the sonata form: the main and secondary parts of the exposition, development and reprise. At the same time, individual episodes of the poem can be perceived as parts of a symphony.

After Liszt, many composers turned to the genre he created. The classic of Czech music Bedrich Smetana has a cycle of symphonic poems, united by the general title “My Homeland”. The German composer Richard Strauss loved this genre very much. His Don Juan, Don Quixote, and The Merry Tricks of Till Eulenspiegel are widely known. The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote the symphonic poem "Kalevala", which is based on the Finnish folk epic as a literary source. Russian composers preferred to give other definitions to their orchestral works of this type: overture-fantasy, symphonic ballad, overture, symphonic picture.

The symphonic genre, common in Russian music, has some differences. Its programming is not related to the plot, but paints a landscape, portrait, genre or battle scene. Everyone is probably familiar with such symphonic films as “Sadko” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “In Central Asia” by Borodin, “Baba Yaga”, “Kikimora” and “The Magic Lake” by Lyadov. Another variety of this genre - symphonic fantasy - also loved by Russian composers, is distinguished by greater freedom of construction, often by the presence of fantastic elements in the program.

Symphony. Among the many musical genres, one of the most honorable places belongs to the symphony. Always, from the moment of its inception to the present day, it has sensitively reflected its time: the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven, Berlioz and Mahler, Prokofiev and Shostakovich are reflections on the era, on man, on the ways of the world and life on earth. Symphony as a standalone musical genre arose relatively recently: some two and a half centuries ago. However, during this historically short period of time, it has come a long way.

The word symphonia translated from Greek means just consonance. In Ancient Greece, this was the name given to a pleasant combination of sounds. Later they began to designate either an orchestra or the introduction to a dance suite. In the early 18th century, the term replaced the current concept of overture. The first symphonies in the current sense appeared in the center of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. And the place and time of her birth are not accidental. Originating simultaneously in different parts of Europe, in the depths of old, previously formed musical forms- dance suite and opera overture, the symphony was finally formed in the countries of the German language - website. In Italy national art there was an opera. In pre-revolutionary France, already saturated with an atmosphere of freethinking and rebellion, other arts came forward. Such as literature, painting and theater - more specific, directly and clearly expressing new ideas that excite the world. When, several decades later, it came to music, the song “Carmagnola” and “Marseillaise” entered the ranks of the revolutionary troops as a full-fledged fighter.

Symphony is still the most complex of all types of music not related to other arts.- demanded different conditions for its formation, for full perception: it demanded thinking, generalization - calm and concentrated work. It is no coincidence that the center of philosophical thought, which reflected social changes in Europe at the end of the 18th century, turned out to be in Germany, far from social storms. At the same time, rich traditions have developed in Germany and Austria instrumental music. This is where the symphony appeared. It arose in the works of Czech and Austrian composers, and its final form. acquired in the work of Haydn in order to reach its peak in Mozart and Beethoven. This classical symphony (Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven entered the history of music as “Viennese classics”, since most of their work is connected with this city) developed as a cycle of four parts, which embodied different sides human life.

First movement of the symphony- fast, active, sometimes preceded by a slow introduction. It is written in sonata form.
Second part- slow - usually thoughtful, elegiac or pastoral, that is, dedicated to peaceful pictures of nature, quiet rest or dreams. There are second parts that are mournful, concentrated, and deep.
Third movement of the symphony- a minuet, and later, in Beethoven, a scherzo. This is a game, fun, live pictures folk life, a fascinating round dance...
The final- this is the result of the entire cycle, the conclusion from everything that was shown, thought out, felt in the previous parts. Often the ending is life-affirming, solemn, victorious or festive.

In the general scheme, the symphonies of different composers are very different. So, if Haydn’s symphonies are mostly serene, joyful, and only in very few of the 104 works of this genre he created, serious or sad tones appear, then Mozart’s symphonies are much more individual, sometimes perceived as the predecessors of romantic art - site. Beethoven's symphonies are filled with images of struggle. They fully reflected the time - the era of the Great french revolution, lofty civic ideas inspired by her. Beethoven's symphonies are monumental works, in depth of content, in breadth and power of generalization, not inferior to opera, drama, or novel. They are distinguished by deep drama, heroism, and pathos. The last of Beethoven's symphonies, the Ninth, features the chorus singing the rapturous and majestic hymn "Embrace, O Millions," set to the verses of Schiller's ode to Joy. The composer paints here a grandiose picture of a free, joyful humanity that strives for universal brotherhood.

At the same time as Beethoven, in the same Vienna, lived another wonderful Austrian composer, Franz Schubert. His symphonies sound like lyrical poems, like deeply personal, intimate statements. With Schubert in European music, a new movement came to the symphony genre - romanticism. Representatives of musical romanticism in the symphony are Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz. Hector Berlioz, an outstanding French composer, was the first to create program symphony , writing a poetic program for her in the form of a short story about the artist’s life.

Symphony in Russia is primarily Tchaikovsky. His symphonic works are exciting, exciting stories about a person’s struggle for life, for happiness. But this is Borodin: his symphonies are distinguished by their epic breadth, power, and truly Russian scope. These are Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Glazunov, who created eight symphonies - beautiful, bright, balanced. The symphonies of D. Shostakovich embody the 20th century with its storms, tragedies and achievements. They reflect the events of our history and images of people - the composer's contemporaries, building, fighting, searching, suffering and winning. S. Prokofiev's symphonies are distinguished by their epic wisdom, deep drama, pure and bright lyrics, a sharp joke.

Any symphony is a whole world. The world of the artist who created it. The world of time that gave birth to it. Listening to classical symphonies, we become spiritually richer, we become familiar with the treasures of human genius, equal in significance to the tragedies of Shakespeare, the novels of Tolstoy, the poems of Pushkin, the paintings of Raphael.
Among the domestic authors of symphonies are N. Myaskovsky, A. Khachaturyan, T. Khrennikov, V. Salmanov, R. Shchedrin, B. Tishchenko, B. Tchaikovsky, A. Terteryan, G. Kancheli, A. Schnittke.

Scherzo. The Italian word scherzo is a joke. It has long been adopted in music to denote its character - lively, cheerful, playful. Beethoven introduced the name scherzo for one of the middle movements of the symphony instead of the previously traditional minuet - site. And in the middle of the 19th century, composers began to call independent plays this way, not only humorous ones, but sometimes also dramatic ones or having an ominous connotation. Thus, Chopin's scherzos are widely known - piano pieces distinguished by their richness of images and variety of content.

Symphonic poem(German symphonische Dichtung, French poeme symphonique, English symphonic poem, Italian poema sinfonica) - one-part program symphony. work. The genre of S. p. was completely formed in the work of F. Liszt. The name itself comes from him. "S. p." Liszt first gave it in 1854 with his overture "Tasso", written back in 1849, after which it became called. S. p. all their one-movement program symphonies. essays. Name "S.p." indicates a connection in this kind of production. music and poetry - both in the sense of implementing the plot of one or another lit. works, and in the sense of the similarity of S. items of the same name. poetic genre lawsuit S. p. is the main genus symphony program music. Works like S. p. are sometimes given other names - symphonic fantasy, symphony. legends, ballads, etc. Close S. items, but having specific. The features of the variety of program music are the overture and the symphonic picture. Dr. the most important kind of symphony. program music is a program symphony, which is a cycle of 4 (and sometimes 5 or more) parts.

13 S. p. are written on the sheet. The most famous of them are “Preludes” (according to A. Lamartine, ca. 1848, latest edit. 1854), "Tasso" (after J. V. Goethe), "Orpheus" (1854), "Battle of the Huns" (after the painting by W. Kaulbach, 1857), "Ideals" (after F. Schiller, 1857), "Hamlet "(according to W. Shakespeare, 1858). In Listov's S. items various types are freely combined. structures, features, etc. instr. genres. Particularly characteristic of them is the combination in one movement of the features of sonata allegro and sonata-symphony. cycle. Basic part of the symphony The poem usually consists of a number of different episodes, which, from the point of view of the sonata allegro, correspond to ch. parts, side parts and development, and from the point of view of the cycle - the first (fast), second (lyric) and third (scherzo) parts. Completes production a return in a compressed and figuratively transformed form, similar in its expressiveness, to the previous episodes, which from the point of view of the sonata allegro corresponds to the reprise, and from the point of view of the cycle - to the finale. Compared to the usual sonata allegro, the episodes of S. p. are more independent and internally complete. The compressed return at the end of the same material proves to be a powerful form-holding agent. In S. p. the contrast between episodes can be sharper than in sonata allegro, and there can be more than three episodes themselves. This gives the composer greater freedom to implement program ideas, display various. kind of stories. In combination with this kind of "synthetic." structures, Liszt often applied the principle of monothematism - all basic. themes in these cases turn out to be free variations of the same leading theme or thematic. education. The principle of monothematism provides complementary form fastening, however, when consistent. application may lead to intonation. impoverishment of the whole, since the transformation is primarily rhythmic. drawing, harmonization, texture of accompanying voices, but not intonation. outlines of the topic.

The prerequisites for the emergence of the genre of S. p. can be traced over many previous decades. Attempts to structurally combine parts of a sonata-symphony. cycles were undertaken even before Liszt, although they often resorted to “external” methods of unification (for example, the introduction of connecting constructions between the individual parts of the cycle or the transition from one part to the next). The very incentive for such a unification is associated with the development of program music, with the disclosure in production. single plot. Long before Liszt, sonata-symphonies also appeared. cycles that had features of monothematism, for example. symphonies, main The themes of all parts of which revealed intonation, rhythm. and so on. unity. One of the earliest examples of such a symphony was Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The genre on the basis of which the formation of S. p. took place is the overture. Expansion of its scope, associated with program plans, internal. thematic enrichment gradually turned the overture into a S. p. Important milestones on this path there are many. overtures by F. Mendelssohn. It is significant that Liszt also created his early S. pieces as overtures to K.-L. lit. produced, and initially they even had the name. Overture ("Tasso", "Prometheus").

Following Liszt, other Western Europeans also turned to the genre of literary works. composers, representatives of various national schools Among them are B. Smetana ("Richard III", 1858; "Wallenstein's Camp", 1859; "Jarl the Heckon", 1861; the cycle "My Homeland", consisting of 6 paragraphs, 1874-70), K. Sen -Sans ("The Spinning Wheel of Omphale", 1871; "Phaeton", 1873; "Dance of Death", 1874; "The Youth of Hercules", 1877), S. Frank ("Zolids", 1876; "Djinns", 1885; "Psyche" , 1886, with choir), H. Wolf ("Pentesileia", 1883-85).

The most important stage in the development of the genre of S. p. in Western Europe. art is associated with the work of R. Strauss, the author of 7 S. p. The most significant of them are “Don Juan” (1888), “Death and Enlightenment” (1889), “Till Eulenspiegel” (1895), “Thus Spoke Zarathustra "(1896), "Don Quixote" (1897). Near the arts. signs of S. and. also have his symphony. fantasies "From Italy" (1886), "Home Symphony" (1903) and "Alpine Symphony" (1915). Created by R. Strauss S. and. distinguished by the brightness, "catchyness" of images, masterful use of the orchestra's capabilities - both expressive and visual. R. Strauss does not always adhere to the typical structural scheme of Liszt's S. plays. Thus, the basis of his “Don Juan” is the scheme of a sonata allegro, the basis of “Till Eulenspiegel” is the rondo-variation form, the basis of “Don Quixote” is variations (in The subtitle of the work is called “symphonic variations on the theme of knightly character”).

After R. Strauss, representatives of other nationalities successfully worked in the field of agricultural production. schools J. Sibelius created a number of S. p. but based on folk motives. Finnish the epic "Kalevala" ("Saga", 1892; "Kullervo", 1892; the last - "Tapiola" dates back to 1925). 5 S. items were written in 1896 by A. Dvořák ("The Water Man", "Midday", "The Golden Spinning Wheel", "The Dove", "The Heroic Song").

In the 20th century abroad, in addition to J. Sibelius, prod. Few composers created in the genre of sung songs - B. Bartok ("Kossuth", 1903), A. Schoenberg ("Pelleas and Melisande", 1903), E. Elgar ("Falstaff", 1913), M. Reger (4 S. p. based on paintings by Böcklin, 1913), O. Respighi (trilogy: “Fountains of Rome”, 1916; “Pineas of Rome”, 1924; “Feasts of Rome”, 1929). S. p. in Western Europe. music is internally modified; losing the features of plot, it gradually moves closer to symphony. painting. Often, in this regard, composers give their program symphonies. prod. more neutral titles (prelude "Afternoon of a Faun", 1895, and 3 symphonic sketches "The Sea", 1903, Debussy; "symphonic movements" "Pacific 231", 1922, and "Rugby", 1928, Honegger, etc.) .

Rus. composers have created many works like S. p., although this term was not always used to define their genre. Among them are M. A. Balakirev (S. p. "Rus", 1887, in the 1st edition 1862 called the overture "A Thousand Years"; "Tamara", 1882), P. I. Tchaikovsky (S. p. "Fatum", 1868; overture-fantasy "Romeo and Juliet", 1869, 3rd edition 1880; symphonic fantasy "Francesca da Rimini", 1870; (symphonic) fantasy "The Tempest", 1873; overture-fantasy "Hamlet", 1885; symphonic ballad "Voevoda", 1891), N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov ("Fairy Tale", 1880), A. K. Glazunov ("Stenka Razin", 1885), A. N. Scriabin (“Dreams”, 1898; “Poem of Ecstasy”, 1907; “Poem of Fire”, or “Prometheus”, with ph. and chorus, 1910). Among the owls. composers who turned to the genre of S. p. - A. I. Khachaturyan (symphony-poem, 1947), K. Karaev ("Leili and Majnun", 1947), A. A. Muravlev ("Azov-Mountain", 1949 ), A. G. Svechnikov ("Shchors", 1949), G. G. Galynin ("Epic Poem", 1950), A. D. Gadzhiev ("For Peace", 1951), V. Mukhatov ("My Homeland ", 1951).

The features of idealistic abstraction, rhetoric, and outwardly oratorical pathos emerge. At the same time, it is of fundamental importance symphonic creativity Liszt is great: consistently pursuing his idea of ​​“renewing music through its connection with poetry,” he achieved remarkable artistic perfection in a number of works.

Programming underlies the overwhelming number of Liszt symphonic works. The chosen plot suggested new ones means of expression, inspired bold quests in the field of form and orchestration, which Liszt always noted for its brilliant sonority and colorfulness. The composer usually clearly distinguished the three main groups of the orchestra - strings, woodwinds and brass - and used solo voices inventively. In tutti, his orchestra sounds harmonious and balanced, and at the moments of climax, like Wagner, he often used powerful brass unisons against the backdrop of string figurations.

Liszt entered the history of music as the creator of a new romantic genre - the “symphonic poem”: this is how he first named nine works completed by 1854 and published in 1856-1857; later four more poems were written.

Liszt's symphonic poems are large programmatic works in a free one-part form (Only the last symphonic poem - “From the Cradle to the Grave” (1882) - is divided into three small parts that run without interruption.), where various principles of formation are often combined (sonata, variation, rondo); sometimes this one-part structure “absorbs” elements of a four-part symphonic cycle. Emergence of this genre was prepared by the entire course of development of romantic symphony.

On the one hand, there was a tendency towards the unity of a multi-part cycle, its unification by cross-cutting themes, the merging of parts (“Scottish Symphony” by Mendelssohn, Schumann’s Symphony in d-moll and others). On the other hand, the predecessor of the symphonic poem was the program concert overture, freely interpreting sonata form(Mendelssohn's overtures, and previously Beethoven's Leonora No. 2 and Coriolanus). Emphasizing this relationship, Liszt many of his future symphonic poems in the first versions they were called concert overtures. The birth of a new genre was also prepared by large one-movement works for piano, devoid of an extensive program - fantasies, ballads, etc. (by Schubert, Schumann, Chopin).

The range of images embodied by Liszt in symphonic poems is very wide. He was inspired world literature of all centuries and peoples - from ancient myth (“Orpheus”, “Prometheus”), English and German tragedies of the 17th-18th centuries (“Shakespeare’s Hamlet”, Goethe’s “Tasso”) to the poems of French and Hungarian contemporaries (“What is Heard on the Mountain” and “Mazeppa” by Hugo, “Preludes” by Lamartine, “To Franz Liszt” by Vörösmarty). As in piano creativity, Liszt in his poems often embodied images of painting (“Battle of the Huns” based on the painting German artist Kaulbach, “From the cradle to the grave” based on a drawing by the Hungarian artist Zichy), etc.

But among the motley variety of plots, a gravitation towards heroic themes clearly emerges. Liszt was attracted to subjects depicting strong in spirit people, big pictures popular movements, battles and victories. He embodied in his music the image of the ancient hero Prometheus, who became a symbol of courage and unyielding will. Like the romantic poets different countries(Byron, Hugo, Slovacki), Liszt was worried about fate young Mazepa- a man who overcame unheard of suffering and achieved great glory (Such attention is paid to Mazepa’s youth (according to legend, he was tied to the croup of a horse, which rushed across the steppe for many days and nights), and not to historical fate hetman of Ukraine - a traitor to his homeland - is typical, unlike Pushkin, for foreign romantics.). In “Hamlet”, “Tasso”, “Preludes” the composer glorified feat of life man, his eternal impulses towards light, happiness, freedom; in “Hungary” he sang the glorious past of his country, its heroic struggle for liberation; “Lament for Heroes” was dedicated to the revolutionary fighters who died for the freedom of their homeland; in “The Battle of the Huns” he painted a picture of a gigantic clash of nations (the battle of the Christian army with the hordes of Attila in 451).

The leaf is uniquely suited to literary works, which formed the basis of the program of the symphonic poem. Like Berlioz, he usually prefaces the score with a detailed presentation of the plot (often quite extensive, including the history of the idea and abstract philosophical reasoning); sometimes - excerpts from a poem and very rarely limited to only a general title (“Hamlet”, “Holiday Bells”). But, unlike Berlioz, Liszt interprets detailed program generalized, without conveying the sequential development of the plot in music. He usually strives to create a bright, prominent image central character and focus all the listener’s attention on his experiences. This central image is also interpreted not in a concrete everyday manner, but in a generalized and elevated sense, as the bearer of a great philosophical idea.

In the best symphonic poems, Liszt managed to create memorable musical images and show them in various life situations. And the more multifaceted the circumstances in which the hero fights are outlined and under the influence of which different sides of his character are revealed, the brighter his appearance is revealed, the richer the content of the work as a whole.

The characteristics of these living conditions are created by a number of musical and expressive means. Big role plays a generalization through genre: Liszt uses certain, historically established genres of march, chorale, minuet, pastoral and others that contribute to concretization musical images and make them easier to perceive. He often uses visual techniques to create pictures of storms, battles, horse races, etc.

Headship central image gives rise to the principle of monothematism - the entire work is based on a modification of one leading theme. This is how many of Liszt’s heroic poems are structured (“Tasso”, “Preludes”, “Mazeppa”). Monothematicism is further development variation principle: instead of gradually revealing the possibilities of the theme, a direct comparison of its variants that are distant in nature, often contrasting, is given. Thanks to this, a single and at the same time multifaceted, changeable image of the hero is created. The transformation of the main theme is perceived as a show various sides its character - as changes arising as a result of certain life circumstances. Depending on the specific situation in which the hero acts, the composition of his theme also changes.

Leaf made history symphonic music as the creator of a new genre - the one-part symphonic poem. Its name evokes instant associations with the atmosphere of poetry and clearly reflects the connection between music and literature that underlay Liszt’s aesthetics (as is known, Liszt was one of the most staunch supporters of programmatic creativity and the synthesis of various arts).

Since a symphonic poem embodies a concrete program content, sometimes very complex, its formation lacks the stability that is inherent in its older relatives - the symphony and overture. Most of Liszt's symphonic poems are based on the free or mixed form that was very common in the era of romanticism. This is the name for forms that combine the essential features of two or more classical forms. The unifying factor, as a rule, is the principle of monothematism (the creation of brightly contrasting images based on the same theme or motif).

12 of Liszt's 13 symphonic poems date back to the heyday of his work - the so-called. Weimar period (1848-1861), when the composer was the director and conductor of the Weimar court theater. Both Liszt's symphonies - "Faust" and "Dante" - were created at the same time. The composer turned to a cyclic form in them. The “Dante” symphony has two movements (“Hell” and “Purgatory”), the “Faust” symphony has three movements (“Faust”, “Margarita”, “Mephistopheles”. However, its parts are close in structure to symphonic poems).

The range of images embodied in Liszt's symphonic poems is very wide. World literature of all centuries from ancient myths to the work of modern romantics. But among the motley variety of subjects, a philosophical problematic very specific to Liszt clearly stands out:

• the problem of the meaning of human life - “Preludes”, “Hamlet”, “Prometheus”, “Lament for Heroes”;
• the fate of the artist and the purpose of art - “Tasso”, “Orpheus”, “Mazeppa”;
• the fate of peoples and all humanity - “Hungary”, “Battle of the Huns”, “What is heard on the mountain”.

The two most widely known of Liszt's poems are: "Tasso" (where the composer turned to the personality of the remarkable Italian Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso) and "Preludes".

"Preludes" is Liszt's third symphonic poem. Its name and program were borrowed by the composer from the poem of the same name by the French poet Lamartine(under the impression of Lamartine’s poetry, the composer also created the piano cycle “Poetic and Religious Harmonies”). However, Liszt significantly departed from the main idea of ​​the poem, dedicated to thoughts about mortality human existence. He created music full of heroic, life-affirming pathos.

The musical composition of the “Preludes” is based on freely interpreted principles of sonata allegro with monothematic connections between the most important topics. In the very in general terms the form can be defined as sonata-concentric(sonata allegro with an introduction, an episode in development and a mirror reprise of a dynamized nature).

The beginning of the poem is very typical for Liszt, who usually refuses solemn introductions and begins many works quietly, as if secretly. In “Preludes”, the abrupt, quiet sounds of the first bars give the impression of mystery and enigma. Then the typically romantic motive of the question arises - do-si-mi (m.2 down - part 4 up), expressing the “key” initial phrase of the program: “Isn’t our life a series of preludes to an unknown hymn, the first solemn note of which will be taken by death?”), that is, the question about the meaning of life. This motive plays the role of a thematic core for all subsequent music of the composition.

Growing from the motive of the question, but acquiring the certainty of self-affirmation, heroic main topic (C major) sounds powerful and solemn with trombones, bassoons and low strings. The connecting and secondary themes clearly contrast with the main one, painting the image of a hero with another side dream of happiness and love. In this case, the binder is a “lyricized” version main topic, presented by cellos in a very melodious manner. Subsequently, it acquires a cross-cutting meaning in the poem, appearing on the edges of important sections and, in turn, undergoing variant transformations.

Side (E-dur), according to the program plan, is the theme of love. Its connection with the main motive is more indirect. With the main theme, the secondary theme appears in a colorful, “romantic” third relationship. The secondary sound of the horns, doubled by divizi violas, gives a special warmth and sincerity.

The love idyll of a side party in development gives way to life's storms, battle scenes and, finally, a large episode of a pastoral nature: the “hero” seeks repose in the lap of nature from the worries of life (one of the most typical ideological and plot motifs romantic art). In all these sections there are transformations of the main motive. IN storm episode (first section of development) it becomes more unstable due to the appearance of mind in it.4. All harmony, based primarily on diminished seventh chords and their parallel movements along the tones, also becomes unstable. chromatic scale. All this evokes associations with violent gusts of wind. The storm episode, reminiscent of a sonata development in many ways, is distinguished by its vivid picturesque imagery. It continues the long tradition of “musical thunderstorms” (Vivaldi, Haydn, Beethoven, Rossini) and has a clear resemblance to the stormy, dramatic scherzo of the symphonic cycle.

The next section is pastoral - resembles a slow part. Its theme, alternately performed by various wind instruments, is entirely new (it is an “episode” in development). However, even here, in the transparent sound of pastoral tunes, the “intonation of a question” flashes, as if even in the lap of nature the hero cannot rid himself of his doubts. Later, after echoes of the connecting theme, a secondary theme is included in the development, very naturally continuing the music of the lyrical episode. Here the mirror reprise of the poem formally begins, but the key is new - As-dur.

The subsequent development of the side theme is aimed at its glorification: it becomes more and more active, energetic and in dynamic reprise turns into a victory march in a dotted rhythm. This march-like version of the side theme is again preceded by a connecting theme, which also loses its dreamy character and turns into a jubilant appeal. Glorification lyrical images logically leads to the peak of the entire work - the powerful implementation of the main theme, which becomes the heroic apotheosis of the poem.