Unit information: Franz Liszt: Narratives between Wunderkind, Virtuoso, and Vanguard in 2014/15

Unit name	Franz Liszt: Narratives between Wunderkind, Virtuoso, and Vanguard
Unit code	MUSI20107
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. David Trippett
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

“With Liszt, most historians and critics throw up their hands at the thought of reconciling the contradictions into a coherent whole.” (Dana Gooley) Franz Liszt is a centrally placed figure in the story of 19th-century music; his life spanned the fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Berlin, and his musical styles link the worlds of Hummel and Beethoven to those of Busoni and Schoenberg. Coupled to his longevity, Liszt’s eclecticism and versatility—in writing, influence, pedagogy and patronage, as well as through musical performance and composition—make him an ideal prism through which to interrogate the cultural pluralism within which he lived. This seminar will provide a detailed introduction to Liszt’s music in these terms by studying a selection of his compositions, and situating them in their cultural, historical, and aesthetic context.

Unit aims:

• To acquire an understanding of the biographical, aesthetic, and historiographic significance of Franz Liszt’s position in 19th-century musical culture
• to gain a strong knowledge of Liszt’s compositional output beyond the piano music
• to develop an awareness of contemporary debates in Liszt scholarship.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:

1. Describe and evaluate current scholarly thinking about Liszt in particular, and nineteenth-century historiography in general.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of concepts of romanticism and idealism, and an ability to conceptualise these as historical ideas.
3. Argue effectively about overlapping matters of Liszt’s roles as virtuoso, composer, author, priest, poet.
4. Display skill in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of good bibliographic control.

Teaching Information

Weekly two-hour seminar

Assessment Information

All the assessment for the unit is summative:

2,500-word coursework essay (50%)

2-hour written examination (50%)

The essay will allow students to demonstrate learning outcomes 1-4; the exam in particular will allow students to demonstrate learning outcomes 1 and 2

Reading and References

1. Christopher Gibbs and Dana Gooley (eds.): Franz Liszt and his World (Princeton, 2006)
2. Dana Gooley: The Virtuoso Liszt (Cambridge, 2003)
3. Kenneth Hamilton (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Liszt (Cambridge, 2005)
4. Alan Walker, Franz Liszt, 3 vols. (Faber, 1989-95)
5. Paul Metzner, Crescendo of the Virtuoso (U California Press, 1998)

A detailed bibliography will be distributed at the start of the course. In addition, students should aim to acquaint themselves with a selection of piano, orchestral, and choral works. Listen to your selections with the score in hand and take notes. A “listening list” will also be issued at the beginning of the course.