What Does The Harp To Represent Orpheus And Eurodice

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Liszt’s interpretation into the world of Orpheus and Eurodice is very melodic and transitive. The use of the harp to represent Orpheus is clear from the start as you listen to the melodies slow crescendo. String instruments in the composition play well with the harp as it allows for some back and fourth between the two. This may represent the pain Orpheus has after loosing his beloved Eurodice. Liszt symphonic poem really outlines Orpheus’s journey into the underworld to reclaim his wife. It is a very gentle narrative told through music that is well done and conceptually successful. The orchestral poem really allows for a deep scope and rapid fluctuation. Throughout most of the piece the tempo is very slow however it gradually picks up toward …show more content…

Liszt uses the harp to represent Orpheus and the violins dive deeper into his sadness and engulf you into the theme of the story. It really allows one to dive into the phycology of Orpheus in his infinite sadness. The tragedy of the story is that he never gets Eurydice back. The piece may also represent what he felt after the leaving hades and loosing Eurydice forever. This freely structured concept really makes the imagination go wild as one can think of the struggles that Orpheus had to deal with. You can really feel Orpheus plucking the strings of his lyre which is represented by the harp.
Liszt’s poem is a portrait of the heroism and the struggle against Orpheus. This was a product complied from a specific train of thought, after listening to Gluck’s opera “Orpheus and Eurodice” which he was to conduct he found himself thinking of the Etruscan vase he had seen in the Louvre, Paris, this represented the first poet musician. Though the music does not depict specific events in the story, there are key elements within it that highlight certain aspects such as the harp for Orpheus’s lyre. The use of tone colors gave it a wonderful mixtures of

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