Hamlet: Clarification Through Liszt's Own Letters

Paul G Luongo

Abstract Franz Liszt’s symphonic poems have eluded classification since their inception.  This is due in part to the individual techniques, character, and form of each.  Some were written as overtures, while others were independent conceptions from the outset.  Some follow closely the conventions of sonata form, while others seem to adopt precise programmatic plans, and others still seem to defy any such associations.  Most of all among Liszt’s thirteen symphonic poems, Hamlet has resisted classification, partly as a consequence of the emotionally charged nature of the work.  While this emotive temperament has made the composition one of Liszt’s most critically acclaimed works, it has also contributed the symphonic poem’s misinterpretations.              Previous studies of Hamlet suggest two possible conclusions; that it is either a directly programmatic work or a character study.  Most notable among those who assert a programmatic interpretation was that of Edward Murphy.  He identifies specific associations in the music to Hamlet throughout the composition and constructs a program that “does not tell the story of the music, but runs parallel with it.”  Encouraged by a few explicitly programmatic moments in the work, as well as a belief that the original intent of the piece was as an overture to Shakespeare’s play, Murphy assigns exact characters and actions that outline the core structure of the plot for every moment of the music.  This argument, however, does not have any foundation within Liszt’s own discussion of the piece through his letters.  Liszt’s writings reveal the composer’s own notion of Hamlet.  They show that Liszt was specifically concerned with understanding Hamlet in relation to his reactions to others.  Most notable among these relationships was that of Hamlet and Ophelia, two individuals who were believed by Liszt to be intensely opposed. This paper aims not only to explain the classification of this work as a character study but also to identify Liszt’s interpretations of the Hamlet’s character within the music.  When other details about the composition are viewed through this perspective, Liszt’s intent becomes apparent.  Descriptive terms in the music that coincide with the composer’s understanding of Hamlet are found throughout the work.  Additionally, the Ophelia section, added to the composition later, fits into Liszt’s descriptions in his letters of the dynamic between these two clashing natures that can never reconcile.  This made Hamlet fundamentally different from the other symphonic poems that also functioned as overtures, in that it disregarded the sequence of events in the plot.  The character study in the music therefore does not need a plotted form.  By combining a better understanding of Liszt’s own writings with analysis of the composition itself, we not only gain a better understanding of the piece, but also of a Hamlet whom Liszt characterized as a prince “hovering between heaven and earth­the captive of his doubt and irresolution.”

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