Liszt’s personal journey and Vallée d’Obermann
Storytelling is an exquisite art that has been a cornerstone of human society and culture since the beginning of humanity. When telling a story, one must develop plot lines, build tension, develop characters, provide or withhold resolutions, and often work hard to convey a greater underlying message with the story. A well-crafted, relatable, and personally introspective story can have a tremendous impact on the listener, much the same with a well-crafted piece of music. Musicians at the very core, are storytellers. Not only does a musician require a great deal of training and experience, but also the ability to tap into one’s own raw emotions. The latter element is the key ingredient that truly produces an effective work of art, and is important in every step of the process: from composition to performance. It might be said that when telling a story in this way, one cannot help but attach a small piece of themselves to it and tell the story through their own personal lens. This is where truly autobiographical music, which was at the core of Romantic era ideology, is the clear leader of effective storytelling. Franz Liszt’s Vallée d’Obermann from the collection Première année: Suisse, Années de Pèlerinage is a prime example of autobiographical writing. This is shown through Liszt’s attraction to and inspiration from the novel Obermann by Étienne-Pivert de Senancour, reflections of events and struggles in Liszt’s personal life, and the formal structure and musical devices within the piece.
This piece has strong literary connections, as the novel Obermann by Étienne-Pivert de Senancour serves as primary inspiration to Liszt’s Vallée d’Obermann, and the original publication of the piece in 1842 was formally dedicated to him. The novel takes place in the Swiss mountains and focuses on the main character, Obermann, who strives and yearns for “a union of Nature and Self”. To his disappointment, this can never be fulfilled due to the realization that the solitary and pastoral life with nature that he aims for, actually leaves him emptier and more lost than before. Obermann is engulfed in melancholy, and lost in a spin of questioning every aspect of himself and his life as a whole. This tormented tale embodies the distinct colour of Romantic era melancholy and ineffectuality, which is also clearly reflected in the life of Senancour himself. Senancour was born in Paris in 1770, growing up a misfit, and full of doubt. His childhood was very lonely and secluded, and in 1789 his father insisted that he enter a seminary. He soon lost his faith and escaped to Switzerland, where he had a hasty and unhappy marriage, two children, and a swift divorce, after which Senancour retreated into the mountains to write Obermann. Both Senancour and Obermann long for an impossible ideal, whether that be true happiness, or perfect balance of self and nature. Liszt works to convey this same sense of longing and endless wandering in his Vallée d’Obermann, and is likely drawn to the story because the subject of internal conflict, confusion, and one’s struggle with sense of purpose is both deeply relatable and profoundly beautiful. This kind of inner torment and emotional journey lends itself well to colourful musical interpretation, and Liszt encapsulates it almost effortlessly. This insightful interpretation was most likely aided by the fact that, even though Liszt was 41 years younger, the two had developed a close friendship. This is well documented by letters from Liszt to his mistress Countess Marie d’Agoult. By around 1834, he was visiting Senancour on a regular basis, as is shown in the following excerpt where Liszt refers to Senancour as Obermann: “…I went to Obermann’s! This time it was all tenderness and warm effusions. I thought I saw personified and ideally magnified in him all my former days of distress, of wretched anguish.” Another quote from an earlier 1833 letter mentions that Liszt has sent Chopin to deliver the second volume of Obermann to Marie d’Agoult, and Liszt asks her to annotate the novel, as this deep analysis would be valuable to him later, possibly for reference when composing. Both quotes prove the friendship between Liszt and Senancour, and display not only the respect that Liszt has for him, but also that he sees himself in Senancour. It is these parallels between the lives and mentality of both men that provide further grounds that Liszt’s Vallée d’Obermann is an autobiographical work.
In the years leading up to, and at the time of the suite’s publication in 1842, Liszt was touring through Europe. There are many parallel’s between these performance tours, and with the programmatic journey within the piece. Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage is a set of three suites, and together essentially form a musical travelog. The first suite, Première année: Suisse is a collection of works inspired by Liszt’s travels through Switzerland, the second suite Deuxième année: Italie about his travels through Italy, and the third suite simply titled Troisième année is a set of supplementary works not specifically pertaining to any particular country or destination. Vallée d’Obermann is from the first suite, and therefore elements from his travels through Switzerland can be seen within the work.
Liszt’s life was ever reflected in his art. These pieces, distinctly impressionistic in character, are filled with the sights and sounds of the Swiss countryside, whose natural beauty enchanted him. Earth and air, rain and storm are all represented here. Distant church bells, cascading falls, mountain echoes, and the cries of Swiss yodelers are among the charming repertoire of effects Liszt incorporates into these soundscapes.
For example, a chromatic storm-like section can be seen beginning at m. 119 of the piece. It begins with a low rumble as seen in the first two measures below, which then leads to subsequent bursts of lightening as seen in the third bar of the figure below (see figure 1), before eventually spiraling out of control and leading towards another section.
This drastically contrasts the smooth opera-like section that precedes it, which features legato melody lines over a light chordal accompaniment (see figure 2).
Not only does Liszt musically represent elements from his tour through Switzerland, but also relates to Obermann at a personal level. As previously discussed, Liszt and Senancour share many similarities in mindset and personal journey. Liszt sees himself in Senancour and his work, who has made it abundantly clear that his novel Obermann is an autobiographical endeavour. Liszt’s childhood consisted of countless hours at the piano, practicing and concertizing in order to establish a name for himself. Despite being used by his parents as a “performing-dog", much like the young Mozart, Liszt’s childhood was fairly happy up until his fathers death in 1827. Into his early adulthood, he fell into a great sadness and was “torn between urges to the priesthood and to complete his education, between lonely composition and a hectic social life”. Because of this long period of inward struggle, Liszt became the pale and thin caricature that was his signature image. Liszt’s life in this way mirrors many aspects of both Senancour’s life, as well as Obermann. Liszt clearly had a personal attachment and relation to the character, which resulted in a hauntingly accurate autobiographical piece of music.
The formal structures and musical devices such as the resolution of dissonances and development of motives, provides further evidence of autobiographical ties to the piece. The piece is through-composed, although there are several occasions of returning motives and modified fragments. The opening measures of the piece state the signature descending melodic figure in the bass, which is used to represent the main character, Obermann (see figure 3).
This descending motive then undergoes alterations and transformations throughout the first section of the piece, which establishes the mood and tone of the overall narrative. There is an interruption with a pastoral section before the opening section is repeated a second time with slight alterations. This pastoral section slows down the harmonic rhythm, and provides a series of dissonances that resolve into more dissonances, or altered tonics and dominants (see figure 4).
This lingering feeling of imperfection and unresolved dissonance creates unease and torment, two characteristics of which are pertinent to the tales of both Obermann and Liszt. The whole piece is organized into very distinct sections, including what one might call a miniature opera-like section from mm. 75-118 that digresses and seems to come out of nowhere. This is followed by a section that can only be described as a torrential storm of raging winds, heavy rains, and booming thunder from mm. 119-169. Once the storm calms, there is a sweet melodic section that fragments the first three notes of Obermann’s motive in the soprano voice. This section continues to develop, slowly layering in more voices over time, until giving way to the final climactic resolution of the piece. In this dramatic conclusion, Obermann’s motive is fragmented and hammered out by octaves in the right hand, supported by a lush, sweeping accompaniment that bathes the listener in triumphant diatonic sonorities. Perhaps the most important part of the piece is the final two measures, which follow this happy triumph of transformation with a reminder of the original strife and struggle which is still present deep within the character (see figure 5).
This piece is so intuitively organized and well articulated, which makes it clear this was the work of an individual who exuded great passion in expressing their true, raw story and innermost emotions.
Liszt’s Vallée d’Obermann from Première année: Suisse, Années de Pèlerinage is a truly outstanding example of autobiographical writing, as shown through Liszt’s use of the novel Obermann by Étienne-Pivert de Senancour as primary inspiration, reflections of events and struggles in Liszt’s personal life, and the formal structure and musical devices used by Liszt within the piece. In this Années de Pèlerinage suite, “It is not programme music which Liszt offers but an expression of his inner feelings faced with primitive natural sites and national expressions of freedom”. Liszt has an immense desire to develop a closer connection with the audience and produce the best music possible, by pouring his personal emotions and story into his work. He even developed the concept of ‘Lisztian relation’. This is a concept in piano technique where by pulling the sound from the keyboard rather than pushing the sound out through it, one can create a closer connection to the audience with the opportunity for “greater emotion and sensitivity” (see figure 6).
In everything Liszt does, he makes the extra effort to use every ounce of possible emotion and expression available to him. He strives for perfection and beauty, as should any artist in any field. This piece, and Liszt’s commitment to personal connection bring forth the important message that in order to produce the most beautiful and effective results in everything one does, one must be honest and free in their execution. It is only by expressing the truth, and releasing the beauty held within all aspects, good or bad, that one’s labours can transcend into something truly exceptional.