Liszt’s Hungaro-European synthesis comments relating to the cultural-historical context of The Three Kings march of the Christus oratorio

Kovács, Imre (2016) Liszt’s Hungaro-European synthesis comments relating to the cultural-historical context of The Three Kings march of the Christus oratorio. Studia Musicologica, 57 (3-4). pp. 379-390. ISSN 1788-6244

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Abstract

It is evident that The Three Kings march of the Christus oratorio by Liszt is a verbunkos associated with the Eastern identity of Hungarians. What message did Liszt, who used musical motifs very consciously, wish to convey to the people of his time? I will approach the question not from a musicological aspect, but in the form of a cultural-studies type research. On the basis of the studies of Jácint Rónay and János Erdélyi dealing with national characterology, I wish to highlight how the Hungarian national identity and the myth of Eastern origin were related. I shall also examine in my paper paintings that bear close connection with the piece in question. Among these, Adoration of the Magi by Stephan Lochner is of vital importance, as according to the biographer of Liszt, Lina Ramann, it was the inspirational source of the movement in question of the Christus oratorio. The study attempts to find an answer to the relationship between the Lochner painting and The Three Kings march as well; and we shall see that it is also related to the question of the Eastern identity of the Hungarians.

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