A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Rhapsody
RHAPSODY. The Greek Rhapsodist (Ῥαψῳδὸς) a professional reciter or chaunter of epic poetry. Ῥαψῳδία is the Greek title of each book of the Homeric poems, the first book of the Iliad being Ῥαψῳδία Α, and so forth. The Rhapsody was the song of the Rhapsode; a sequel of Rhapsodies when sung in succession or written down so as to form a series constituted an epic poem, and when a long poem was chanted in sections at different times and by different singers it was said to be rhapsodized. The usual derivation of Ῥαψῳδία is ῥάπτω = I sew, and ᾠδή = song, ode.
Musicians might speak, in Hamlet's phrase, of a 'rhapsody of words,' or of tunes—that is to say, of a string of melodies arranged with a view to effective performance in public, but without regular dependence of one part upon another. Such a description would seem to apply pretty closely to Liszt's fifteen Rhapsodies Hongroises, and to his 'Reminiscences d'Espagne' (a fantasia on two Spanish tunes, Les Folies d'Espagne and La Jota Arragonesa, 1844–45) which, in 1863, he republished as a 'Rhapsodie Espagnole.' The history of the latter piece is similar to that of the Hungarian rhapsodies—portions of which were originally published under the title of 'Mélodies Hongroises—Ungarische National-melodien'—short transcriptions of Hungarian tunes as they are played by the wandering bands of Gipsies, the national musicians of Hungary. The prototype of these 'melodies' in all probability was Schubert's 'Divertissement à la Hongroise,' in G minor, op 54—a piece Liszt has always been fond of, and of which he has produced several versions—as of the whole for pianoforte solo, and of the march in C minor for orchestra.[1] Liszt's ten sets of 'Mélodies Hongroises' date from 1839 to 1847; the 15 so-called Rhapsodies Hongroises from 1853 to 1854.
In 1859 Liszt published a book in French, 'Des Bohémiens et de leur Musique en Hongrie'—a late and overgrown preface, as he confesses, to the Rhapsodies. In this brilliant, though at intervals somewhat meretricious work,[2] an effort is made to claim for the set of Rhapsodies the dignity of an Hungarian Epic sui generis. P. 344: 'Alors nous acquimes la conviction que ces morceaux détachés, ces mélodies disjointes et éparses étaient des parties disséminées, émiettées, éparpillées d'un grand tout; … et pourrait être considérés comme une sorte d'épopée nationale,—épopée bohémienne,—chantée dans une langue et dans une forme inusitées,' etc. P. 346: 'Par le mot de Rhapsodie, nous avons voulu désigner l'élément fantastiquement épique que nous avons cru y reconnaitre.' 'Les Rhapsodies, nous ont toujours semblé faire partie d'un cycle poétique,' etc. Be this as it may, the term 'Rhapsodie' remains as one of Liszt's many happy hits in the way of musical nomenclature, witness 'Poèmes Symphoniques' (Sinfonische Dichtungen), 'Partitions de Piano,' 'Paraphrases de Concert,' 'Fantaisies Dramatiques,' etc.
Brahms has adopted the term 'Rhapsodie' both in Liszt's sense and in that of the Greek Rhapsodists; and, as usual with him, he has added weight to its significance. His original 'Rhapsodien,' op. 79 for pianoforte solo—in B minor and G minor—are abrupt impassioned aphoristic pieces of simple and obvious structure, yet solidly put together. The 'Rhapsodie' in C, op. 53, for contralto, male chorus, and orchestra, justifies its title, in the Greek sense, inasmuch as it is a setting—a recitation, a rhapsody—of a portion of Goethe's poem 'Harzreise im Winter'; it, also, is a compact and carefully balanced piece.
Of Rhapsodies recently written, for the most part in the vein of Liszt, the following may be mentioned:—
Raff, op. 22, two 'Rhapsodies élégiaques,' op. 120, 'Rhapsodie Espagnole,' and the 'Rhapsodie' contained in the Suite, op. 163—all for pianoforte.
Dvořák, op. 45, three 'Slavische Rhapsodien,' for orchestra.
Svendsen, two 'Norwegische Rhapsodien,' for orchestra.
A. C. Mackenzie, op. 21, 'Rhapsodie Écossaise' in B♭ (original), and op. 24, 'Burns, Second Scotch Rhapsody,' also in B♭, for orchestra. The latter, based on national tunes, is an admirable example of its kind.
The last movement of C. Hubert H. Parry's 'Symphonic Suite in A minor for orchestra,' entitled 'Rhapsodie,' consists of a systematized series of melodies on the plan familiar in the Rondo.