Hamlet (symphonic poem)

Design

In January 1856 is represented Hamlet of Shakespeare, with Weimar, with for main actor Bogumil Dawilson. The personal interpretation of this last highly impresses Liszt which makes of it share in a letter with Agnès Steel. He sees in Hamlet, unlike Gœthe, a “ intelligent prince, undertaking, with high political aimings, which awaits the favourable moment to achieve its revenge ”, and the madness of Ophélie seems to be able to explain itself by the fact why the being loved, Hamlet, is infinitely higher to him “ it is her which is crushed under her mission by her impotence to like Hamlet as it is necessary for him to be liked, and its madness is only the decrescendo of a feeling whose inconsistency does not enable him to be maintained in the area of Hamlet ”. Two years later, Liszt composes in Weimar this tenth Symphonic poem which shows the characteristic to summarize in some nine to ten minute the part of Shakespeare.

Comparison with the part of Shakespeare

The symphonic poem preserves the very erudite architecture of the original part, like showed it Pierre-Antoine Huré and Claude Knepper in their test Dyonisos or crucifié the . Structure which can break up in the shape of a pyramid: acts I and V having a level of action almost no one as an exposure and outcome, acts II and IV allow the transition, the passage or the exit of the third act, this last being the central node around of which all revolves. The table opposite makes it possible to represent this erudite architecture:

The comparison with the second table below watch very clearly that Liszt operated a complete transposition of the part in musical language. For this reason Hamlet seems a successful attempt at this musical drama dreamed by Liszt, and carried out by Wagner.

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