Zbornik Radova Akademije Umetnosti (Jan 2020)
Franz Liszt's 'bell compositions': Attempting a survey
Abstract
Musical instruments are particularly well suited to awaken associations at the sonic level. Their sound thus may represent an appropriate "sonic code" for the most varied descriptions of moods. This becomes particularly clear with the sounds of bells and of the pipe organ. Both types of instruments are assigned to the sphere of the ecclesiastical and religious solely by their sonority. The sonic codes of bells and pipe organs have been used in compositions since the early 19th century. Although, the musical works where they appear must not automatically be linked to church music, since a specific sonic boundary between church music and secular works may become fluid or be completely dissolved. Franz Liszt was a composer who increasingly created religious moments in his musical works by using such "sonic codes". He introduced organ and bell sounds in his works in a variety of ways. In this paper three distinct categories for the sounds of bells will be proposed. This systematic approach does not only affect bells in the real sense, but includes also the production of bell sound by other musical instruments. For each of the three categories numerous examples from Liszt's musical oeuvre are given. The example of the analysis of the song "Ihr Glocken von Marling" shows how Liszt uses the bell's sonic codes to connect with both, the sphere of the religious as well as with that of the secular. In this context, the compositional process of this song and a specific historical imagination attached to it are also highlighted, like the local legend that Liszt personally heard the bells in the village of Marling in South Tyrol. According to my recent evaluation of the documents related to the song "Ihr Glocken von Marling" by Franz Liszt, this is rather unlikely.
