LISZT AND ITALIAN FOLKLORE

Abstract

When I proposed to the organizers of this conference that I present a paper about Liszt and Italian folklore, I planned to make only a small contribution to the literature about Liszt's musical internationalism. The situation in this field of Liszt research (i.e., Liszt and elements of Italian folklore) can be described today in the same words which Zolt?n G?rdonyi used in 1963: ?Der Ursprung der von Liszt verwendeten italienischen Nationalthemen ist ?brigens bisher noch nicht gen?gend erforscht worden.?11 thought, therefore, that it would be intersesting to devote my paper to this subject, even if I had uncovered only enough material for a short presentation. In pursuing research, however, I uncovered a large number of unfamiliar documents, and I am convinced that more remain to be found. Thus my paper is actually a report on work-in-progress. Another preliminary remark: I employ words like?popular,? ?folklore,? and the like in Liszt's sense rather than in ours (i.e., I assign them a prephilological content). In other words, I consider as ?popular? every kind of music which, in Liszt's day, was familiar and beloved at whatever level of society.