Research
Research
As a researcher, I am interested in performance styles of the nineteenth century. How did musicians of this period approach the art of musical performance? Specifically, my research to date has focused on the Liszt tradition of performance, as documented in writings by Liszt and his pupils, and as captured on early sound recordings and reproducing piano rolls.
Along with being one of the most influential composers and pianists of the nineteenth century, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a prolific music teacher, who worked very hard to pass on his ideas and the broader nineteenth century tradition of performance to his many students. A number of these students became famous pianists in their own right and lived long enough to make recordings. As Liszt was famously enthusiastic to develop the individuality of his students, and indeed among his many students we hear a variety of different approaches, it is difficult to declare that any particular recording by a pupil of Liszt might represent how he himself would have played. But, taken as a group, the large catalogue of recordings by Liszt’s pupils certainly represents tangible evidence for the kind of playing Liszt heard and possibly expected from his students. In some cases pupils of Liszt recorded works that they once studied with Liszt himself, such as, for example, Arthur Friedheim’s recording of Liszt’s Harmonies du Soir, which he first played for Liszt in Rome in 1881, and later recorded on piano roll. Other recordings, such as a small collection of Welte-Mignon rolls made by Bernhard Stavenhagen and Alfred Reisenauer, were played in a manner supposedly inspired by reminiscences of Liszt’s own performances. The most fascinating thing is that very often these recordings with known links to Liszt’s teaching or influence exhibit significant departures from the notated score, not least in terms of a free approach to tempo, something consistent in all recordings of musicians of this era, but also extensive alterations to the notes themselves—even added ornaments and cadenzas. These few recordings alone indicate that modern assumptions about the performance of nineteenth century music are radically different from the approach taken by musicians who lived, studied and rose to world-wide fame and prominence during that very era.
Alongside this, I also enjoy researching and learning about other aspects of nineteenth century music and culture: the lives and careers of forgotten musicians and composers, approaches to piano technique, the history of piano design, philosophical understandings of music in the period, and more!
My Honours and Master of Arts research at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Edith Cowan University) has focused on performance practices in Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. Currently I am a PhD candidate at the same institution, and my PhD research focuses on the life, career and piano-playing of the great pianist Arthur Friedheim (1859-1932), one of Liszt’s most famous pupils, who left behind a sizeable body of writings and recordings.
Research Outputs
Master of Arts (Performing Arts) (2020)
"A study on performing the Hungarian Rhapsodies in the Liszt tradition"
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University
Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies (1851, 1853) have long been among the most popular collections of piano music. They have also long garnered a reputation for “superficial brilliance and effect” which seems to have influenced the way that famous pianists play the works in public. But would a performer immersed in the Liszt tradition have approached them differently? This dissertation aims to promote a re-evaluation of the Hungarian Rhapsodies from this perspective: considering Liszt’s own ideas on music and performance, the writings and recordings of his pupils, and Liszt’s book Des Bohémiens et de leur musique en Hongrie (1859).
Bachelor of Music, First Class Honours (2018)
"Performance practice in Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies: A comparison of the Liszt-Pupil recordings of Hungarian Rhapsody No.12"
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University
Despite their enduring popularity as concert works, Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies have never won favour with the critics. Played in a literal, score-bound fashion these works can indeed offer little more than fodder for the performing pony. Nevertheless, through performances that successfully capture the spirit of this music—many of which are captured on early recordings—these works are vibrant, powerful, and stirring. This dissertation explores the performance style associated with these works. At the centre of this study is a comparative analysis of seven recordings of Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 made by the following Liszt pupils: Arthur Friedheim, Arthur de Greef, Alfred Reisenauer, Emil von Sauer, Alexander Siloti, Bernhard Stavenhagen, and Josef Weiss. The findings from this analysis will be discussed alongside written sources concerning Liszt’s approach to performance in general, questioning how that approach might apply to the Hungarian Rhapsodies with their distinct musical language (known as the Style hongrois).
Conference Papers
Paper Presentation (Lecture-Recital), "Arthur Friedheim and Liszt’s Two Legends",
Conference: 3rd Global Piano Roll Meeting,
Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia, 25-28 July, 2024
Arthur Friedheim (1859-1932) was one of the great pianists of the late nineteenth century, and a pupil of Liszt who actively cultivated an image as a custodian of the Lisztian tradition of performance. Liszt’s two Legends were among the works Friedheim featured most frequently on his concert programs, usually presenting them as a pair, and had very likely played them for the composer himself. By the time he set down these pieces on Duo-Art rolls (c.1916-1919), he had been playing the works in public for some thirty-five years. These recordings document an approach to performance that appears at-odds with the published score—yet is consistent with other evidence related to how Liszt taught these pieces. This lecture-recital will examine Friedheim’s recordings, putting it in context with the surrounding evidence, and conclude with a performance of the two works inspired by these findings.
Paper Presentation, “The Life and Career of Madeleine Sander Friedheim (1868-1959)”,
Conference: 46th National Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia,
Elder Conservatorium, The University of Adelaide,
Adelaide, Australia, 29 November-2 December 2023.
Scholars are familiar with the name Arthur Friedheim (1859-1932), the great pianist who was an important figure in the reception of Liszt’s music around the turn of the twentieth century. Yet how many know the story of Madeleine Sander Friedheim (1869-1959), wife of the famous virtuoso? In his autobiography, Arthur tells how he met Madeleine in Leipzig, in 1887. A promising young pianist, born in England, she had recently graduated from the Leipzig Conservatory, studying under Carl Reinecke and Bruno Zwintschler, and was pursuing further study under Martin Krause. Madeleine and Arthur married in August 1888. For a time, Madeleine accompanied Arthur on his concert tours, often performing alongside him. Critics describe “a young lady with remarkable skill” and a “conscientious performer with a legitimate technique.” Not only a pianist, Madeleine was also an accomplished singer and pursued a career as an operatic soprano. In his autobiography, Arthur tells how, when war broke out in 1914, Madeleine and their two children were left behind in Germany while he found safety in America. Arthur accounts in detail the trials he faced in America—but left conspicuously absent was the story of Madeleine’s struggles during these difficult years. An English woman in war-time Germany, suddenly become an enemy in her own neighbourhood, and cut off from the financial support of her husband, she was able to support herself and her children thanks to her musical abilities. Based on published and unpublished documents, this paper tells the story of Madeleine’s forgotten musical career.
Paper Presentation, “Plato’s Cave and the Liszt Tradition of Performance”,
Conference: Musicological Society of Australia, WA Chapter Conference 2023,
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University,
Perth, Australia, 28 October 2023.
When the young American pianist and writer Amy Fay first set eyes on the aging figure of Franz Liszt (1811-1886), she was struck with the image of an “old time magician” who had a face “seamed with experience.” A towering musician who in his long life had learnt from Czerny, met Beethoven, heard Paganini, known Chopin as a friend, and been the first protector and supporter of Wagner; for many of his students, the grand old master Liszt was appreciated not only for his talents as pianist and composer in his own right—but also as a vital living link to the musical past. Liszt’s musical opinion was thus often seen as authoritative, even when it did not concern his own compositions. This gave rise to a Lisztian tradition of performance that seemed to live on after his death. Framed in the illustration of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, this paper will draw explore the concept of tradition within the Liszt school, and question how it might inform our performances of his music today.
Paper Presentation, “Arthur Friedheim, Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ and the Liszt Tradition”,
Conference: Musicological Society of Australia, WA Chapter Conference 2022,
University of Western Australia,
Perth, Australia, 28 November 2022.
Many pianists today take pride in a musical lineage tracing back directly to Beethoven. Beethoven’s student Carl Czerny taught Franz Liszt, who taught many famous pianists of the early twentieth century—and to some, this lineage implies an unbroken tradition of the interpretation of Beethoven’s works. But do the modern-day descendants of this pedagogical line still play like Beethoven? This paper will examine the interpretative tradition surrounding Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata, and how approaches may have changed across the generations. At the centre of the study is the pianist Arthur Friedheim (1859-1932). Around the turn of the twentieth century, Friedheim was seen as an authoritative exponent of the Liszt tradition of performance, and in 1912 he recorded the first and third movements of Beethoven’s “Moonlight.” How does Friedheim’s recorded performance compare with what we know about Czerny’s and Liszt’s interpretations? Moreover, how does this recording compare with the recordings by Friedheim’s pupil Reginald Stewart (1900-1984), and the second-generation Friedheim pupil Van Cliburn (1934-2013)?
Paper Presentation, “Arthur Friedheim (1859-1932): A Case Study in the Marketing of Piano Rolls”,
Conference: 2nd Global Piano Roll Meeting,
Hochschule der Künste Bern (HKB),
Bern, Switzerland, 17-20 June 2022.
Arthur Friedheim (1859-1932) was one of the great pianists active in the early twentieth-century. Famous as one of Liszt’s favourite pupils, a virtuoso of the highest order, with an extensive repertoire of some of the most difficult music written for the instrument—Friedheim was among the first group of artists to put down recordings for the reproducing piano roll system, his first rolls appearing in 1905. Over the course of his career, Friedheim would produce (according to Larry Sitsky’s catalogue) a total of 70 individual rolls for the major labels: Welte, Triphonola, Duo-Art and Philipps-Duca. From the earliest days of his involvement with the piano-roll industry, Friedheim’s name was used by these companies frequently in advertising and for promotional purposes. His rolls were played at live demonstration concerts in New York. He was drafted to provide testimonials and his picture and signature were included in printed advertisements, alongside those of other great pianists, to lend prestige and credibility to this emerging technology. With the approach of the 1920s, and as the player piano became more widely adopted, we see the tone of these advertisements change—from pure technological amusement to a form of escapist high-art, where the “splendidly and movingly poetical, as well as authoritative” playing of Arthur Friedheim, “one of the great Franz Liszt’s most famous pupils,” could be brought into one’s own home. Long after Friedheim himself had retired from the concert platform, Friedheim’s rolls were being used in concerts alongside live orchestras and singers—and his performances became the subject of review by specialised piano-roll critics, highlighting some of the issues of contemporary reception of piano rolls. By the late 1920s, his recordings of Liszt were even being repurposed as “audio-graphic” rolls, featuring printed illustrations and descriptive text, marketed towards children. By following the piano-roll journey of Arthur Friedheim, through a series of documents and anecdotes, this paper seeks to explore the many and multifarious uses and marketing tactics invented by piano roll companies to sell their products.
Paper Presentation (Lecture-Recital), “Understanding Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.10: Three Approaches to a ‘Historically Informed’ Performance”,
including performance of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.10 on period instrument
Symposium: “Correct, but not beautiful performance II”
Festsaal MDW (convened by Sydney Conservatorium of Music),
Vienna, Austria, 23-25 September 2019.
If they are not understood they are played badly; if they are played badly, they will not be understood. Combine this with their unaffected charm and personality, ever popular with the public, and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies (1853) become an easy target for derision. Many performers, teachers and critics—unable or unwilling to see past the surface of glittering cadenzas and grand sonorities—place these pieces in the category of contrived spectacle, of vacuous showmanship (with performance style to match). But is this what the composer intended? Just a little insight reveals a startlingly different silhouette. In his book Des Bohémiens et de leur musique en Hongrie (1859), Liszt describes a music of extremes: from a sublime “poetic egoism,” as noble Pride in its highest sense; to an utterly abject, black and despicable Pain that resounds from the depths of a “profound abyss of suffering” ... It was such a music that inspired Liszt to pen his version of a grand national epic—to which he gave the evocative title of Rhapsodies Hongroises (Hungarian Rhapsodies). But as it stands, all of this remains shrouded in the dust of a century of unbridled pianistic “virtuosity.” With the aim of providing a shining beacon to the aimless virtuoso, this paper (lecture-recital) will shed light on Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.10 from three historical angles. Firstly, through the lens of cultural exegesis: examining the cultural context through Liszt’s book, and considering the extravagant style of music that was his inspiration. Secondly, by unravelling the period reception of Liszt’s work: discovering a lost poetical description by Liszt’s pupil Arthur Friedheim. Thirdly, through early recordings: comparing two piano rolls by pupils of Liszt, including one marked as played “after Liszt’s own manner”. The lecture will conclude with a performance of the work, exploring how knowledge of the historical information might influence understanding of the work itself.
Paper Presentation, “Reconsidering the Hungarian Rhapsodies: Approaches to Textual Alteration in Liszt’s ‘Hungarian-Gypsy National Epic’”
Conference: “Through the Looking Glass”
41st Musicological Society of Australia (MSA) National Conference,
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University,
Perth, Australia, 6-9 December 2018.
If they are not understood they are played badly; if they are played badly they are not understood. Combine this with their popularity among pianists and audiences, and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies become an easy target for unfounded derision. Many performers fail to see past the surface of glittering cadenzas and grand sonorities—and place the Rhapsodies in the category of superficial showmanship. But is it possible that a musician who looks upon these works with an understanding of Liszt’s intentions, would see them differently? In his book Des Bohémiens et de leur musique en Hongrie (1859, 1881), Liszt writes endlessly, in rose-coloured prose, about the depth of poetry and feeling that he found in the music of the Hungarian Gypsies. It so moved him that he spent much of his life studying it, the culmination of those efforts being the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Liszt’s book describes a music passionate, vivacious and noble; and from this, a suggestion emerges of his cycle of rhapsodies that markedly differs from their typical modern conception. This paper re-opens Liszt’s book, re-considering the evidence alongside a set of recordings by Liszt’s pupils, with the objective that gaining a better understanding of Liszt’s ideas, intentions, expectations and attitudes might promote a re-evaluation of these tiring warhorses of the piano repertoire. At the centre of this study is a comparative analysis of recordings of Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 by seven Liszt pupils: Arthur Friedheim, Arthur de Greef, Alfred Reisenauer, Emil von Sauer, Alexander Siloti, Bernhard Stavenhagen, and Josef Weiss.
Paper Presentation, “Reconsidering the Hungarian Rhapsodies: Historical Performance Practice in Liszt’s ‘Hungarian-Gypsy National Epic’,”
Symposium: “Correct, but not beautiful performance: Deciphering the hidden messages in 19th-century notation,”
Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia, 27-30 September 2018.
If they are not understood they are played badly; if they are played badly they are not understood. Combine this with their popularity among pianists and audiences, and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies become an easy target for unfounded derision. Many performers fail to see past the surface of glittering cadenzas and grand sonorities—and immediately place any music that makes such luxuriant use of its instrument in the category of frivolous and contrived (if not vacuous) showmanship. Is it possible that the musician who looks upon these works with an understanding of Liszt’s intentions, sees them differently? In his book Des Bohémiens et de leur musique en Hongrie (1859, 1881), Liszt writes endlessly, in rose-coloured prose, about the depth of poetry and feeling that he found in the music of the Hungarian Gypsies. It so moved him that he spent much of his life studying it, the culmination of those efforts being the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Liszt’s book describes a music passionate, vivacious, ardent and noble; and from this, a suggestion emerges of his cycle of rhapsodies that markedly differs from their typical modern conception. This paper re-opens Liszt’s book, re-considering the evidence alongside a set of recordings by Liszt’s pupils, with the objective that gaining a better understanding of Liszt’s ideas, intentions, expectations and attitudes might promote a re-evaluation of these tiring warhorses of the piano repertoire. At the centre of this study is a comparative analysis of recordings of Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 by seven Liszt pupils: Arthur Friedheim, Arthur de Greef, Alfred Reisenauer, Emil von Sauer, Alexander Siloti, Bernhard Stavenhagen, and Josef Weiss.