In my last post about concerto cadenzas, I hinted that cadenzas are windows of opportunity for the soloist (virtuoso) to display their true colours: musical wit. We discussed in the comments that the concept of a ‘virtuoso’, particularly amongst pianists was not yet formed: it was really in the 19th century that virtuoso musicians were cultivated. Today we are going to explore about Franz Liszt (1811-1886), and the embryonic stages of his virtuosity through him playing on Erard pianos.
We start as usual with what is a ‘virtuoso’. [i] The first record of the word in English came about in the early 1600s, and when first used, had connotations with “connoisseurs” or “learned person”. In Italian, this word referred to people with exceptional skill in the arts or science’, with specific reference to musicians in the latter part of the 1500s. Both being derived from Latin, virtuōsus: –ōsus meaning “full of” and virtūs meaning “manliness, strength, courage” (association with soldiers who fought with honour and brave), and extending to also encompass ‘moral excellence’. Although the root of virtūs, vir (“man”) yielded both the word virile “manly” and virago “heroic woman”, the latter evolved to have negative implications of “scolding woman, shrew”. Thus, it resulted in that virtuoso in the 19th century generally referred to extremely skilled instrumentalists (not vocalists), usually male, but gradually there were females (for example, Clara Schumann and Fanny Davies).
And now onto Liszt. Before becoming a teenager, Franz Liszt moved with his parents to Paris, and they took up residence close to a piano factory then owned by Sébastian Érard.[ii] The Érards played a significant role in the debut to the young virtuosi’s platforms; it was probably accredited to Pierre Érard, Sébastian Érard’s nephew, for having held close associations with the royals and patronages who gave Franz his early concert opportunities. In return, Franz showcased the instrument’s capabilities: in a concert given at the Duchess of Berry and Duc d’Orléans on March 23rd 1824, the critic in Journal des Débats praised the Érard piano for having ‘ease and promptness’ in its piano action and touch, qualities of ‘greatest value for the perfection of the trill and of an infinity of passages which require a delicate and light execution’.[iii] It is no surprise that soon after this Liszt dedicated the first opus number, the Huit Variations pour le piano to Sébastien, showing the pianist’s fascination with the double-escapement action through the frequent play of repeated notes.[iv]
For Liszt, the Erard pianos united ‘the two characteristics which are usually mutually exclusive, that is power and softness of tone.’[v] Being prompted by Érard to composer 12 etudes, Liszt wrote what would later be included in the Etudes d’exécution transcendant. Paganini’s appearance in Paris on March 9th 1831 further set impetus for Liszt to achieve the same heights on his piano as Paganini had done on his violin.[vi] In 1838 Liszt published a set of Grandes études de Paganini, and in 1851 a revised version. Liszt scholar Alan Walker commented that Liszt’s Paganini studies, including the revised version of La Campanella, would have been ‘unthinkable’ without Erard pianos.[vii]
Although Liszt’s bond with the Erard factory remained strong throughout his life, Liszt did develop a growing interest towards several other brands pianos, particularly towards the American and German pianos in the later stages of his life. During those later years, there was also a shift in the virtuosic language that Liszt was exploring in his compositions. Are there parallels between the changes in piano innovation and the change of taste in pianism, in virtuosity? This is a discussion that is much beyond the scope of this blog, but in short – Yes! I believe so, and this I have probed much in my doctoral thesis. One final question for thought: would Liszt have been the same virtuoso without Erard pianos?
Below is me playing on an Erard Paris (1896) at Kingston Lacey, National Trust, UK, extracts from Liszt’s ‘Gnomenreigen’ from two Concert Études, S.145. This was recorded in 2019 as part of my gathering of thesis data, where I had compared between 17 different pianos the effect of trills, repeated notes, and scale-like passages amongst other pianistic / pianism traits. For more of other examples, you can listen at https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/446888/.
[i] Houghton, W. E. (1942). ‘The English Virtuoso in the Seventeenth Century: Part I. Journal of the History of Ideas, 3(1), 51–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/2707461. https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/virtuoso-2019-06-07/#:~:text=First%20recorded%20in%20English%20in,latter%20part%20of%20the%201500s, consulted 29/01/23.
[ii] Haraszti, E. (1967) Liszt à Paris/ A. et J. Picard, 245–246. It is possible that the family had encountered the Erards before reaching Paris, during their sojourn in Strasbourg, the birthplace of Sébastian Érard.
[iii] “Cet instrument […] réunit les avantages des pianos à échappement et sans échappement; la touché parle dans toutes les positions où elle se trouve, et il n’est point nécessaire de la laisser remonter pour obtenir d’elle de nouveaux sons. Cette facilité, cette promptitude sont du plus grand prix pour la perfection du trill et d’une infinité de passages qui exigent une exécution délicate et légère.” Dufetel, N. (2011) Liszt and the Érard sound. Villa Medici Giulini, 18. A similar description is found in Le Moniteur Universel on March 12th 1824.
[iv] Liszt and Erard, 20; Cited in Franz Liszt, Huit variations pour le piano forte, facsimile of the first edition Erard, segnatura 937/3, with an introduction by Alain Roudier, Collection Dominantes, Fuzeau, Paris, 2002, IX.
[v] ‘Les deux qualités qui ordinairement s’excluent, la puissance, et le moelleux du son.’ Letter from Franz Liszt to Marie d’Agoult, 19 February 1837. Gut, S and Bellas, J. ed. (2001) Franz Liszt-Marie d’Agoult. Correspondance. Paris: Fayard, 2001. 271.
[vi] Bose, S. (2005). ‘Music: On Virtuosity: A mastery of technique ought to be exalted, not disdained’, The American Scholar, 74: 3, 113–116.
[vii] Walker, A. (1970). Franz Liszt, the man and his music. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 51.
Joyce Tang 