Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Liszt composed four Mephisto-Walzer (Mephisto Waltzes) for piano, of which No. 1 (1859-62) is by far the most famous. Shortly after its completion, Liszt orchestrated this and made it the spectacular second movement of Zwei Episoden aus Lenaus Faust (Two Episodes from Lenau’s Faust), based on the verse drama Faust by the Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau. In its original form, though, “Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke: Erster Mephisto-Walzer” (“The Dance in the Village Inn: First Mephisto Waltz”) is one of Liszt’s most famous virtuoso masterworks. Drawing on the legend that the Devil plays the violin, Lenau describes a wedding party in a country inn; Mephistopheles takes the fiddle from the dance band’s leader, and his playing has Faust and a local village beauty waltzing away together into the night outside. Liszt’s music brilliantly portrays the lively wedding celebrations, Faust’s growing infatuation with the girl, and their wild dancing away into the distance, before the work’s barnstorming conclusion.