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Marta23
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Franz Liszt was born in Raiding (now Austria) on October 22, 1811
"The demon moved its forces; as if wanting to test the audience, it seemed to play with them first, then offered them something deeper to listen to, until it enveloped, so to speak, each one with its art and lifted and carried everyone along as it pleased"
[Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Romantic Music]
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How do you interpret it?
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I interpret it like this: Schumann compares Liszt to a demon. In literature, supernatural beings are usually angels or demons. Why does he choose the figure of a demon instead of an angel? Because an angel would never play with people; angels are such pure beings that they are incapable of "playing" with people. It is an excellent choice of rhetorical figure. Furthermore, some of Liszt's sonorities vaguely recall the underworld; one only needs to take Totentanz as an example. Just as a hunter seeks to attract the prey's attention to then lead it where he wants and deliver the final blow, Liszt captured people's attention by playing around on the piano, only to become deeper and captivate people's souls with the true art of his music. In this context, the figure of the Demon is obviously seen in a positivist light! Supernatural qualities that capture attention and envelop the souls of the spectators...
