吳佳凝鋼琴老師

吳老師鋼琴獨奏
F. Liszt Mephisto Waltz No.1

「村裡的客棧中，有一場婚禮正在進行，音樂、跳舞、歡笑。魔鬼梅菲斯托和浮士德正好經過，魔鬼邀請浮士德一起進入客棧，加入慶典中。魔鬼從一位懶洋 洋的樂師手中將小提琴搶過來，突然間拉出了無法形容、令人著迷沈醉的音樂。也被音樂激發了強烈愛情欲望的浮士德拉起一位成熟、豐滿的村中少女翩翩起舞，在 那瘋狂的圓舞曲舞步中，他們跳出了客棧，在外面空地上跳了一陣子，又朝著林子裡去了。小提琴的聲音愈來愈柔和，夜鶯也應和以求偶般的歌唱。」

李斯特將這段文字，放在『第一號魔鬼圓舞曲』樂譜的前面，表明了：這首曲子就是如此情節的描述。這段文字，出自奧地利作品雷瑙（Nikolas Lenau)手筆，是他一八三六年出版的『浮士德』劇中的內容。

「浮士德」是十九世紀最受歡迎的題材，尤其是歌德詩劇『浮士德』是那個時代每個歐洲青年成長中必讀的巨著。影響所及，各式各樣浮士德故事的改編作品 汗牛充棟。大部分都還是立基於哥德的詩劇，突出渲染其中部分情節而成。而最常被拿來改編大做文章的，一項是少女葛萊卿貞堅而悲哀的愛情，另一項則是魔鬼梅 菲斯特的種種惡作劇。

李斯特本來就熱愛浮士德的故事，在雷瑙的戲劇改編中讀到更明白、更強烈的舞台表現提示。於是在一八五九年左右，著手寫他的分幕音樂組曲。最早寫成 的，是魔鬼帶領浮士德在若幻似真的夜晚裡，參加了一場怪異遊行的場面，取名為「夜之遊行」。之後，李斯特接著寫鄉間婚禮的景象，這裡面有鮮活明確的音樂元 素，小提琴、圓舞曲，還有後面交雜進來夜鶯的歌唱。

李斯特原始構想，是將這兩幕如同音樂劇般的樂曲，一起出版。不過原稿送到出版商手中，他們有不一樣的想法。基於市場的商業考量，「夜之遊行」和「魔鬼圓舞曲」以各自獨立的形式出版，而且很快地證明了：「魔鬼圓舞曲」遠比「夜之遊行」受歡迎。

「魔鬼圓舞曲」被特別標舉出來，李斯特心中有著千般感慨。完成這首曲子那年，李斯特同時寫了好幾首取材自義大利歌劇的鋼琴曲，以及三首放在『巡禮之 年：第二年義大利』後面的「補遺」。為什麼對義大利如此反覆致意？因為他深愛的女友，他渴望能夠結婚的對象－－卡洛琳公主，去了羅馬。卡洛琳公主帶著聖彼 得堡大主教發給的離婚同意書，特別跑一趟教廷，期待能夠正式辦好離婚手續，還其自由身，以便能和李斯特完婚。

卡洛琳和李斯特知道在羅馬可能還有些麻煩變數要處理，但也都預期頂多半年一年，總是能將這件事搞定吧！兩地分隔，彼此相思，難怪李斯特作品中平添了許多義大利色彩。

也難怪他積極撰寫『浮士德』當中的那一場鄉間婚禮。可是到『魔鬼圓舞曲』出版了，卡洛琳還沒從羅馬回來。『魔鬼圓舞曲』大受歡迎，李斯特自然地順應 當時音樂市場慣例，將原本為管弦樂團而寫的音樂，改寫了一份鋼琴獨奏和一份雙鋼琴合奏版本。這些版本也出版了，甚至李斯特接著離開了他居住十多年，和卡洛 琳相戀的威瑪城，卡洛琳都還沒回來。

卡洛琳的離婚怎麼樣都辦不成。最終卡洛琳竟然在羅馬困居了二十八年，當然她和李斯特預期中的婚禮也就成為泡影了。

婚禮沒有了，被那看得見與看不見的魔鬼力量阻擋了嗎？等待的卡洛琳沒有回到身邊，祇留下等待時刻中寫的『魔鬼圓舞曲』。

在此之後，李斯特放棄了繼續將雷瑙的『浮士德』寫成一首首連續樂曲的想法，而是寫了一首又一首的『魔鬼圓舞曲』。從一八八○年到一八八五年，七十歲之後的李斯特又寫了另外三首『魔鬼圓舞曲』，其中最後一首『第四號魔鬼圓舞曲』中段慢板部分，在李斯特去世前還沒有完整定稿。

後面三首『魔鬼圓舞曲』不再有文字記載做為聆聽想像的輔助。這三首作品的「魔性」，也不再是以慣習的低音模仿地底獰笑的方式來表現，晚年李斯特熱中 嘗試的，不再是模擬、描繪性的音樂寫法，而是他受到華格納刺激影響之後，對於和聲的大膽試驗。他測探著調性和弦的邊界，運用了許多介於和諧與不和諧之間的 曖昧聲響，來呼應想像中穿梭人間與地獄的魔鬼。

相較之下，『第一號魔鬼圓舞曲』的創作手法就保守且體貼得多了。很容易就可以從中察覺代表魔鬼的簡單動機，代表浮士德的小主題，是很容易可以想像哪裡是鄉間客棧傳來的歡慶音響，哪裡是時而優雅時而狂亂的婚禮舞蹈，哪裡是春心蕩漾的浮士德與村中少女彼此調情勾引。

尤其受歡迎、尤其經常被演奏錄音的，是『第一號魔鬼圓舞曲』的鋼琴獨奏版。因為李斯特先後寫了兩個鋼琴版，很自然地，他讓雙鋼琴版本忠實地複製原來管弦樂當中的各個聲部，至於鋼琴獨奏版就因應較為有限的聲部，進行了比較大幅度的修改。

刪削了一些聲部運用，鋼琴獨奏版反而變得更豐富。一來是音樂表現更集中，沒有眾多配器插花的干擾；二來其結構整個按照鋼琴聲響的邏輯，而非樂團演出 的道理，重新安排過了。例如樂曲的最後，不再是依循文字描述，讓音樂愈來愈柔和逐漸淡出，而是重寫了一段充滿輝煌光彩，音量與節奏都極盡炫耀能事的尾奏， 讓鋼琴家在腎上腺素激放的情況下盡情揮灑，讓觀眾期待、迎接那風狂雨驟襲打而來的高潮。

在那結尾部分，鋼琴家以一種不可思議的魔之姿態演奏，創造出來的魔音卻又必然帶有一份近乎神聖的光華，魔性與神性的矛盾統一，這本來就是「浮士德」故事最有魅力、最迷人的本質吧！

Franz Liszt (or, in Hungarian, Liszt Ferenc) was born in Doborján, Hungary (now Raiding, Austria), on October 22, 1811, and died in Bayreuth, Germany, on July 31, 1886. 

Liszt completed the First Mephisto Waltz as the second of Two Episodes from Lenau's "Faust" in 1860.  The "Mephisto Waltz" separately was performed on March 8, 1861, in Weimar, with Liszt conducting. 

This work runs about 10 minutes in performance.  Liszt's score calls for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals, triangle), harp, and strings.

As he grew older, Liszt was drawn more and more strongly toward the Catholic religion.  Yet as a quintessentially Romantic artist, he could never conceive of Heaven without Hell, and the diabolical fascinated him as much, if not more, than the sacred.  It is interesting in particular how often he associated negative spiritual forces with dance movements:  it is enough to think of Totentanz and such late piano works as Csárdás macabre and Csárdás obstiné to realize that Liszt's favorite way of visualizing the Devil was as a dancing master (to say nothing of his later Mephisto Waltzes Nos. 2-4 for piano, of which the second one was also orchestrated).  No doubt, he was profoundly marked by the medieval tradition of the Dance of Death.

Of all the incarnations of the Devil in Western literature is Mephistopheles of the Faust legend is one of the most sophisticated.  Mephistopheles offers a pact to Faust, an old scholar who has spent his entire life among books yet feels that he has learned nothing.  Mephistopheles shows Faust limitless possibilities for self-realization, only to take his soul as payment.  The most famous literary treatment of this old legend is Johann Wolfgang Goethe's monumental dramatic poem.  Although Liszt based a grandiose three-movement symphony on Goethe's Faust, we know that in his heart he preferred the version by Nikolaus Lenau (1802-1850), a poet who used to occupy a respectable seat in the German literary pantheon but who doesn't seem to be read very much any more.

Lenau was not the only German poet to tackle Faust after Goethe -- a fact that is often forgotten.  The Romantic generation was not comfortable with the Goethe's Olympian optimism.  In the second part of his drama, Faust had, after all, reached happiness through working for the good of his fellow humans; and even the pact with the Devil is overturned in the end as his soul moves on to the highest spiritual realms, drawn by the "eternal feminine."  Such a happy ending was unacceptable to Lenau, the deeply troubled son of a Hungarian aristocrat, who had wandered aimlessly through America and who would end his days in an insane asylum.  Lenau's Faust, written in 1836, is an entirely negative take on the legend.  As one commentator has put it, this "Faust has signed away his soul without knowing for what.....He is never shown obtaining truth or even pursuing it."  He goes wherever the Devil takes him and follows his orders, yet he never seems to derive any kind of benefit from his actions.  In the end, he commits suicide.

Lenau's Faust-which made a considerable impression on a generation that thrived on Weltschmerz ("life-weariness")-is very loosely organized; its "scenes" often have very little connection with one another, and while some are scenes in a theatrical sense, with dramatic dialog, others are simply lyrical poems.  Liszt was inspired by two of these episodes, which are self-contained to some extent, and while he insisted that the two should always be performed together, he was the first to break that rule when he performed "Mephisto Waltz" without its companion piece, "The Night Procession" (in which Faust sees a religious procession at night and is deeply moved by the singing). 

There was, in other words, a "heavenly" counterpart to the "Mephisto Waltz"; yet the pious song of the pilgrims is no match for Mephistopheles's fiddle.  Lenau's "Dance in the Village Inn" takes place during a wedding in a little tavern where Faust dances with a village girl and finally runs off with her into the forest.  No idealized, transcendent love experience for this Faust!

The first thing Mephistopheles does when he takes the fiddle is to tune it:  the open fifths, piled up on top of one another, result in sonorities that were radically new at the time.  After the "tuning," an energetic theme emerges, followed by a second, more languid waltz melody, which becomes in turn whimsical, fiery, and, finally, unabashedly erotic.  The flute solo near the end clearly represents the nightingale who witnesses (and indeed, symbolizes) the passionate love scene concluding both Lenau's poem and Liszt's music.