Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke | Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Score)

Two Episodes from Lenau’s Faust | Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Program Notes

Franz Liszt’s first Mephisto Waltz is a programmatic work based on an episode from Nikolaus Lenau’s 1836 verse drama Faust.  The program note that appears in the original printed score is noted here:

There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing.  Mephistopheles and Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities.  Mephistopheles snatches the fiddle from the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains.  The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods.  The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbled his love-laden song. 

Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is paired with a work preceding it, Midnight Procession (Der Nächtliche Zug), however this piece is not as widely performed.  Liszt later transcribed the waltz into a piano duet and a virtuosic solo piano work.  Each of these versions were written around the same time, roughly 1859-62.  The orchestral version also has an alternate ending, which is softer and fades away.  This arrangement features both endings. 

This work was then followed by three more Mephisto Waltzes.  No. 2 was also written as both an orchestral and piano work, while Nos. 3 and 4 were for piano only.  Of the four, the first is the most popular, although the third is also praised as highly musically. 

Instrumentation

Written for Wind Ensemble of any size (Number indicates how many parts - some parts include divisi)

1 Piccolo (doubles Flute 3)                                             
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
2 Bassoons
1 Clarinet (E flat)
3 Clarinets (B flat)
1 Bass Clarinet (B flat)
1 Contrabass Clarinet (B flat)
2 Alto Saxophones
1 Tenor Saxophone
1 Baritone Saxophone
3 Trumpets (B flat)
4 Horns (F)
2 Trombones
1 Bass Trombone
1 Euphonium
1 Tuba
1 String Bass
Timpani
Marimba
Cymbal
Triangle