Characteristics of modernity in "A Faust Symphony" by Franz Liszt: an aesthetic-analytical approach

• Grant number: 15/04762-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2015
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Music
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Mário Rodrigues Videira Junior
• Grantee: Ísis Biazioli de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This study investigates the possibility of understanding the compositional construction of "A Faust Symphony" by Franz Liszt, considering the context of modernity. Are there traces of modernity in musical structures of such a work? The influence of Goethe's Faust in this symphony can already points to our question. After all, Goethe's version of the Faust myth is considered an important symbol of modernity (Schulte, Noyes & Kleber, 2011; Berman, 2007; Grünewald, 2013). We will start from a literature review about modernity in Goethe's Faust. Then, we will try to understand the implications of Goethe's literary work in many different levels of appreciation of the musical work by the musical analysis of "A Faust Symphony" and a literature review (Floros, 1980; Kramer, 1990; Chrissochoidis, 2001). After those, we will discuss the modernity of the nineteenth century (Habermas, 2002; Berman, 2007) and its effects on artistic production of the period (Compagnonn, 2010; Dahlhaus, 1991). This discussion will focus on the "Faust Symphony" as a case study. We will try to broaden the analytical observations with the aesthetic discussions on modernity in music and, at the same time, exemplify aesthetic considerations with the analytical study of the musical elements of the work. By doing so, we intend to verify the relevance of our hypothesis, which is: the characteristics of modernity can influence compositional processes itself, notably the formal and structural organization of the work of Liszt, as well as the choice of some of his musical material. The relevance of this project is still in the opportunity to study two gaps of our musicology: relate modernity with music and study the Liszt repertoire. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

OLIVEIRA, Ísis Biazioli de. The modernity of Faust Synphony by Franz Liszt: an aesthetic-analitical approach. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA/SBD) São Paulo.