The Battle of the Huns: A Symphonic Poem of War

　　□ Lei Jian

　　In the history of Western music, there are only a handful of symphony pieces used to describe wars, including Beethoven’s 1813 song led by the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte (then King of Naples and King of Spain) in the Victoria Basin of Spain. "The Battle of Wellington" (also translated as "Symphony of War" or "Victory of Wellington") for 50,000 troops, Tchaikovsky led 200,000 Russian troops under the Russian general Kutuzov in 1812 "Overture 1812", which defeated Napoleon's army of 600,000, and Franz Liszt's symphonic poem of the same name inspired by the Kaulbach fresco "Battle of the Huns."

　The symphonic poem is derived from the mural of the same name

　　Wilhelm von Kaulbach was born in Waldeck, Germany in 1805. He studied at the Kunst Academy in Düsseldorf and the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. His painting style is popular with Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbei. Influenced by Martin Songauer.

　　According to ancient Roman historical records, around AD 374, an army of nomadic tribes from Asia crossed the Volga and Don rivers from east to west and swept across eastern Europe.

In the 5th century AD, this feared European army crossed the Danube and entered the eastern part of the Roman Empire.

Kaulbach's fresco "Battle of the Huns", created in 1850, depicts the Huns, led by King Attila, and the Roman general Aetius and the Visigoth king, at Chalons, Champagne, France, in June 451 AD. a fierce battle in the region.

The battle ended in victory for the Roman army.

　　Kaulbach's painting is not limited to ground war, but while depicting the bloody fighting between the two sides of the ground, the war is extended to the kingdom of heaven. In the sky, a soldier with a broken left leg is still slashing with a sword. Above, a soldier with a cross spear is assassinating a soldier.

There is not only physical combat, but also the game of soul and belief.

　The hymn-style melody has a strong sense of picture

　　Franz Liszt was born in Reading, Hungary in 1811. Known as a musical prodigy at an early age, he gave his first solo piano recital at the age of 9.

In 1821 he went to Vienna to study music with Salieri and Czerny, and was soon touring all over Europe.

The symphonic poem "The Battle of the Huns" was written between 1856 and 1857 and published in 1861. It was the 11th of 13 symphonic poems written by Liszt when he was the chief musician of the Weimar court.

In his later years, when his marriage to Princess Caroline Wittgenstein was shattered by the church and the tsar, Liszt was at a loss for a long time, and then became a priest.

　　It is said that he valued Kaulbach's series of frescoes, and planned to create orchestral works such as "Nero", "The Destruction of Jerusalem", "Tower of Babylon" and "Glory of Greece" based on his frescoes, but in the end he only wrote "The Battle of the Huns" ".

After writing the work, Liszt dedicated it to the beloved Princess Caroline Wittgenstein.

　　This symphonic poem is very visual.

The music begins with a low melody of the big pipe, symbolizing the arrival of the Huns and the restlessness.

After a few bars, strings and brass are added, the rhythm is accelerated, and the army begins to rush to fight on the battlefield. The string group always uses the fast-moving melody as the background. .

This melody describing the war is about seven minutes long, making up half of the 15-minute symphonic poem.

With the triumphant song played by the loud brass, the Roman army was victorious, and the music entered the second part of the lyric.

　　It is said that Liszt originally wanted to use a grand chorus to express the victory of the Roman army, but he still used the pipe organ commonly used in the church to sing the victory.

He once said: "This painting contains the triumph of the cross... I bring the shooting stars and the sun's light into the music, and at the end the Catholic hymn 'Faithful Cross' played by the organ is neutralized into one." The organ's soft chants are quiet and clear, echoing in the dome, in stark contrast to the fierce confrontation of the first half.

The organ was interrupted by a loud full play, symbolizing the joy of the festive crowd outside the church.

Then the oboe, flute, and cello joined in singing, and the beautiful hymn-like melody kept people away from war.

At the climax of the piece, the pipe organ joins again, this time instead of singing in a low voice, it enters brilliantly, forming a huge resonance with the band.