Prometheus (I & II), symphonic poem for orchestra, S. 99 (LW G6)

• Date: 1850 -1855
• Composer: Franz Liszt
• Period: Romantic (1820-1869)

Review

Franz Liszt was the inventor of the symphonic poem (also known as the tone poem), a form in which a literary or other nonmusical source provides a narrative foundation for a single-movement orchestral work. Liszt's symphonic poems, however, were not exclusively dependent on their source material: the composer's goal was more to distill the essence of the poetic concept in music rather than to exactly recreate it. Prometheus (1850) is the fifth of the twelve symphonic poems Liszt wrote during his tenure as Grand Ducal Director of Music Extraordinary at Weimar. All twelve works are dedicated to Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein.

In 1850, Liszt composed an overture to Herder's play Prometheus Unbound, which was performed at the ceremonial unveiling of a statue of Herder in Weimar. In 1855, after much revision and rescoring (including orchestrational contributions from composer Joachim Raff), Liszt conducted the premiere performance of an entirely retooled work, the symphonic poem Prometheus.

Liszt's inspiration for this short work was, naturally, the myth of Prometheus, a narrative that includes among its themes the endurance of pain and suffering for the sake of mankind's enlightenment. Liszt explores heroic themes that represent Prometheus and enlightenment, as well as tumultuous "feminine" themes, in a central fugal development. Though Liszt invests the work's stormier passages with excitement and great character, Prometheus is generally not regarded as one of the composer's better symphonic poems. ~ Margaret Godfrey, Rovi

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Dedicated to the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Ferenc Liszt	2012
Franz Liszt: Prometheus/Bergsymhonie/Festklänge	1995
Franz Liszt: Sinfonische Dichtungen	2004
Franz Liszt: Symphonic Poems	2003
Liszt Collection [Limited Edition]
Liszt: A Faust Symphony; Dante Symphony; Les Préludes; Prometheus	2000
Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems
Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems
Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems (Box Set)
Liszt: Complete Tone Poems, Vol. 1
Liszt: Complete Tone Poems, Vol. 1
Liszt: Intégrale des poèmes symphoniques, Vol. 1
Liszt: Les Preludes; Tasso; Prometheus; Mephisto-Walzer No. 1	1986
Liszt: Les Preludes; Tasso; Prometheus; Mephisto-Walzer No. 1	1986
Liszt: Les Préludes	1998
Liszt: Oeuvres Pour Orchestre
Liszt: Orchestral Works; Works for Piano & Orchestra [Box Set]	2003
Liszt: Orpheus; Prometheus; Mazeppa; Festklänge
Liszt: Prometheus; Mazeppa; Tasso, lamento e trionfo; Les Preludes
Liszt: Symphonic Poems	1991
Liszt: Symphonic Poems	1991
Liszt: Symphonic Poems [Box Set]
Liszt: Symphonic Poems, Vol. 3	2007
Liszt: Tone Poems; A Faust Symphony	1995
Nikolai Golavanov
Organ Works; Organ Transcriptions	2000
Prometheus: Musical Variations on a Myth [DVD Video]	1994
Prometheus: The Myth in Music	1994
Reubke, Liszt: Organ Works	2007
The Art of Nikolai Golovanov Vol.5
The Liszt Collection
The Liszt Collection
The Very Best of Liszt	2006
Ultimate Liszt: The Essential Masterpieces [Box Set]	2008
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll in E WWV103; Liszt: Orpheus No4

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