Orpheus, symphonic poem [1854/c1885]

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Orpheus, symphonic poem [1854/c1885]

transcribed for piano trio by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

The Saint-Saëns transcription for piano trio of Liszt’s Orpheus is not quite as unlikely a phenomenon as it might seem. For one thing there was a tradition of arranging orchestral works for piano trio, as Salomon did with Haydn’s London Symphonies or Beethoven with his own Second Symphony. For another thing, Saint-Saëns had good reason to be grateful to Liszt for his help in advancing his career - Liszt once declared Saint-Saëns “the greatest organist in the world” - and he was a fervent admirer of Liszt’s music, not least his symphonic poems.

The overriding factor, however, must have been the nature of the Orpheus score itself. It is not only the shortest of Liszt’s symphonic poems but also, in that it is the least dramatic, the one least likely to suffer by being restricted to the dynamic and colour range of the piano trio. Written initially as the introduction to a performance of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at Weimar in 1854, it was inspired not by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice but by an Etruscan vase in the Louvre representing Orpheus singing to his lyre. In his taming of the wild beasts through his song, Orpheus symbolised for Liszt the civilising influence of music and the arts in general.

The prominent harp part in Liszt’s score cannot have been very difficult for Saint-Saëns to translate into piano terms and the long melodic lines which are such a characteristic feature of the work are no less easily sustained by violin or cello than by, say, oboe or cor anglais. The visionary series of chords at the end might sound a little less ethereal without orchestral strings and woodwinds but, of course, the harmonic progression is no less inspired whatever the instrumental colouring.