Ioannis Fulias: Aspects of tradition and modernism in Franz Liszt’s “Tre sonetti di Petrarca”

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Ioannis Fulias, “Aspects of tradition and modernism in Franz Liszt’s Tre sonetti di Petrarca”, in: Ioannis Fulias, Petros Vouvaris, Kostas Kardamis & Giorgos Sakallieros (ed.), 11th Musicological Conference: “Modernism and Tradition” (on occasion of the 70th death anniversary of Nikos Skalkottas) (Conference proceedings, under the auspices of the Hellenic Musicological Society, Athens, 21-23 November 2019), Hellenic Musicological Society, Thessaloniki 2020, p. 57-95.

Liszt’s involvement with the musical settings of three selected sonnets from Petrarch’s famous collection of lyric poetry entitled Canzoniere (“Sonetto 47: Benedetto sia ’l giorno”, “Sonetto 104: Pace non trovo”, “Sonetto 123: I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi”) extends over a long period of time, i.e. for more than two decades, and it is quite revelatory of the constant and rapid evolution of his own compositional style. Eventually, each “sonetto” appears in two different vocal versions (from the mid-1840s and the mid-1860s), but also, between them, in two more piano transcriptions (from the mid-1840s, and from the late 1840s up to the next decade of 1850s), the comparison of which is of particular interest and has already been attempted – to a greater or lesser degree – several times in the past. The present study focuses on harmonic and structural issues, which simultaneously highlight the assimilation of the musical tradition of the composer’s era as well as his unique tendency towards musical modernity in a way not only multidimensional but also evolving in different directions each time, in relation to the – strongly differentiated in each of his creative periods – artistic pursuits and aesthetic aspirations. At the same time, the common places as well as the divergences between all different versions of the three “sonetti” are illuminated in great detail, revealing an uninterrupted transformational process of the original material during its successive vocal and piano re-elaborations, which, while constantly intertwined, also maintain in each case their necessary autonomy depending on their vocal or instrumental nature. The findings of this thorough comparative examination come to enrich, validate but also refute a plethora of conclusions and opinions stated by previous researchers on these specific works by Liszt and his compositional means, concluding with a comprehensive re-evaluation of all data that could lead us to consider the different versions of Tre sonetti di Petrarca either as simple sets of songs or piano pieces, or possibly as integrated cyclic compositions.