THE BBC
MIDLAND ORCHESTRA
Leader, ALFRED CAVE
Conducted by LESLIE HEWARD
Liszt's symphonic poem Hamlet' (completed in June, 1858) makes no attempt to tell the ' story ' of Shakespeare's tragedy. It is a musical study of the hero himself, comparable with Wagner's Faust Overture, though more subtle in psychological delineation. The opening is gloomy and hesitant. Later come bursts of passion and vigorous decision, and a great climax is built up-only to be cut short by the (rhythmic) figure of ' Fate' (from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony). There is a pause and, for a few bars, flutes and clarinets evoke the shade of Ophelia. It is twice dismissed with mocking irony, and we see the wretched hero at the climax of his frenzy. Finally Liszt takes farewell of his hero in a quiet epilogue (Andante funebre). ' The rest is silence.'