The German Pope was also a competent music critic. One of his favorite composers was Franz Liszt.
by Massimo Introvigne
Among its large production of texts and speeches, Pope Benedict XVI, who was a competent music critic, left some interesting comments on the sacred as it appears in classical music, including in works of Antonio Vivaldi and Gioacchino Rossini.
Hungary’s Franz Liszt, however, was perhaps his favorite composer together with Johann Sebastian Bach. A forgotten text by Benedict XVI on Liszt is a good example of the German Pope’s approach to music.
Benedict XVI read the text on May 27, 2011, at the end of the Vatican concert given to him by the then President of the Republic of Hungary, Pál Schmitt, on the occasion of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt (1811–1886).
The Pope called Liszt “one of the greatest pianists of all time,” celebrating him as “a genial composer of music not only for the piano but also of symphonic and sacred music.” Few remember that the great pianist and composer, after a sometimes profligate life and probable Masonic affiliation, converted and received the Catholic minor orders in 1865. Benedict XVI, who usually collaborated in choosing the music for concerts in his honor, discussed in particular four pieces.
The first three pieces were “Festmarsch zur Goethejubiläumsfeier,” the “Vallée d’Obermann” and the “Ave Maria–Die Glocken von Rom.”
In the three compositions, Benedict XVI commented, “the orchestra’s whole range of tones is highlighted; therefore, we heard with clarity the particular voices of the various sections which form the structure of the orchestra: string, wind, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, timbres which are very characteristic and diverse among themselves. Yet we did not hear an accumulation of disconnected sounds; all of these orchestral colours harmoniously expressed a single musical design, bestowing on us the beauty and joy of listening. They have excited in us a vast range of emotions: from the joy and festivity of the march, to the thoughtfulness of the second piece with its recurring and soulful melody, while the poignant ‘Ave Maria’ instills a prayerful attitude.”
The German Pope then proceeded to comment “the very beautiful Psalm 13 [12].” “This piece,” Benedict XVI explained, “dates back to the years in which Liszt stayed in Tivoli and Rome; it was a period when the composer lived his faith intensely, so much so that he almost exclusively wrote sacred music. Let us remember that he took minor orders. The piece which we have heard gives us an idea of the quality and depth of this faith.”
The Psalm in itself is not a joyful one. “It is a Psalm,” the German Pope commented, “in which the praying person is in a difficult situation, the enemy surrounds and besieges him, God seems absent and seems to have forgotten him. And his anguished prayer rises in the face of this situation of abandonment: ‘How long, O Lord,’ the Psalmist repeats four times. The tenor and the choir repeat ‘Herr, wie lange?’ in an almost incessant way. It is the cry of man and of humanity that feels the weight of evil that is in the world.”
Benedict XVI had a difficult pontificate, and perhaps Liszt’s Psalm reminded him of his own experience (in 2013, he will resign). However, in sacred music hope is never absent. “Liszt’s music conveys to us this sense of heaviness and distress. But God does not abandon. The Psalmist knows this, Liszt does too; as a man of faith, he knows. From the anguish, a cry full of faith leading to joy is born: ‘My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.’ Here Liszt’s music transforms itself: the tenor, choir and orchestra raise an anthem full of confidence in God, who never betrays, never forgets, never leaves us by ourselves.”
Genuine sacred music is in itself prayer, Benedict XVI concluded: “Regarding his ‘Missa Solemnis,’ Liszt wrote: ‘I can truly say that I have prayed this mass more than I composed it.’ I think that we can say the same about this Psalm: the great Hungarian musician prayed more than he composed it, or even better, he prayed it before composing it.”
Beyond the many problems of his pontificate, one of the most important legacies of Benedict XVI are his writings on the “via pulchritudinis,” the “path of beauty.” When everything else fails, the great art and great music are still there to save the world.