Rethinking the Influence of Italian Poetry and Music on Liszt The Petrarca Sonnet Benedetto sia ‘l giorno

Abstract

The article aims to clarify some intricate points about the interpretation of Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnet Benedetto sia ‘l giorno throughout its many settings (manuscripts and prints). The author discusses first the problem of Liszt’s knowledge of the Italian language and metric norms, usually taken for granted; then that of the dates — of composition, of revision(s), of publication(s) — which has been covered much more widely in the literature than that of the language, but that still presents uncertainties. Taking the correspondence between the rhythm of the poem and that of the music as a means of analysis, the author suggests the cooperation of external hands in the setting of the words. Discussing the form of the piece, the paper tries to confute the various commonplaces of the literature; the difficulties inherent in the meter (the hendecasyllable) and the various ways in which its rhythm is interrupted — through repetitions, pauses and vocalizations etc. — are examined. The conclusion is that in Benedetto sia ‘l giorno the relationship between music and poetry does not reflect any particular model of lied nor of opera aria; the piece instead hints slightly to the old Italian madrigal. Benedetto is not the occurrence of a known musical form, but an example of the crisis of the form.