Excerpt from Guest Artist Matthew Lorenz's Performance of Franz Liszt's Totentanz

Performed by the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra (BSO), led by Music Director Dr. Beverly Everett, at its Chance Chants concert, held at Bemidji High School Auditorium on October 8, 2017 with guest artist Matthew Lorenz (piano).
PROGRAM NOTES
Liszt begun work on Totentanz as far back as 1838 and did not consider it “completed” until 1849, a date that lost some of its significance after at least two revisions by the composer in the late 1850s. This long gestation period was not unusual for Liszt and his two piano concerti endured a similarly drawn out process. There are contrasting versions of the story concerning Liszt’s inspiration for Totentanz. Some, including at least one biographer, claim that Liszt was motivated by a 14th century fresco he saw while visiting the city of Pisa, a work known as The Triumph of Death. Or maybe he met his muse in a series of illustrations by Hans Holbein with the more pertinent title of The Dance of Death (or Totentanz). Whatever the case, Mediaeval Europe was obsessed with everything related to death and the radical Romantics were obsessed with everything related to Mediaeval Europe so macabre source material like Holbein’s work and the Pisa fresco would have been abundant and of timely interest during Liszt’s day.
The thematic basis for the music of Totentanz is the ancient plainchant used in the Roman Catholic requiem mass “Dies irae,” which at the start is heard in the orchestra accompanied by crashing chords in the piano. After some thrilling pyrotechnics in the piano and more renditions of the theme, next come six variations. It is difficult to compose a long variation on a short theme, and the first three are short indeed. The last three are longer and more substantial (each lasts almost three minutes). The fifth variation features a brilliant fugato and cadenza and is probably the most dramatic of the six. Liszt supplies a spectacular finish to the Totentanz which in my opinion is more effective and dramatic than the finales of any of his other works for piano and orchestra
(Program notes are from the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra’s 2017-18 concert program, p. 8. and were written by Dr. Patrick Riley.)
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This activity was funded, in part, by a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council funded by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s General Fund.
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