Section 1: Structure Liszts Trube Wolken can be organized into three main parts.

Part I is comprised of measures 1 through 20. Part II is comprised of measures 25 through 48 (the end). Measures 21 through 24 serve as a bridge between the two parts. Part I can be further divided into two parts, the first of the two being measures 1 through 8. In these first 8 measures, Lizst introduces his short, yet poignant six-note theme. After the theme has played twice, Lizst provides a tremolando in the bassa kind of accompanimentabove which the main theme plays twice more. The second of these two smaller parts begins at measure 9 with the strike of an augmented chord (though it is spelled in fourths) on the downbeat. After a total of six chords, the bridge begins at measure 21. The bridge consists of a five-note melody played in octaves. The melody is derived from the theme. The bridge melody is then repeated. The simple bridge is melodically open ended and serves to foster in the listener anticipation for the second half of the piece. Part II can be divided into two smaller parts as well. The first of these begins at measure 25. The original six-note g minor theme plays in the bass as before, but this time Liszt includes above it a new counterpoint motive and turns the theme, itself, into an accompaniment. For eight bars, the piece carries on in this two voice texture rendering a total of four repetitions of the theme. At measure 33, the second half of part II begins. Arpeggiated augmented chords comprise a left-hand accompaniment to an ascending ostinato figure played in octaves by the right hand. This ostinato then repeats twice. After the second repetition of the ostinato, there is an entire measure of rest followed by a three bar coda, which begins at measure 46. The structure of the piece is noticeably and deliberately parallel. In summary, there are two distinct parts each comprised of 20 measures of material separated by four bars of bridge. Each part then contains 8 measures of material in its first portion contrasted by twelve measures of material in its latter portion. The four measures of bridge, which are at the very center of the piece, are perfectly divisible into two bars of material simply played twice. Symmetry is quite literally at the center of Trube Wolken! By the incorporation of a concrete, precisely organized form, Liszt may have intended to present a contrast to the pieces more nebulous and uncertain mood and implied poetic instability. While the mathematical divisions of the form are easy to see when mapped out on the short two-page paper score, the minute elements of the form are not quite so apparent to the listener when he or she hears the piece played Andante. But there is nonetheless a comforting predictability to the piece lent by the precise organization Liszt employs which makes the dissonances and harmonic obscuritysoon to be addressedeasier to accept.

Section 2: Harmonic Language Trube Wolken is part of a body of Franz Liszts later work which serves as a departure in many ways from, for example, the composers more readily called to mind Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and Liebestraume. In Trube Wolken, Liszt makes use of an experimental and not entirely straightforward harmonic language. At the second repeat of the melody, a tremolando on B-flat enters as a kind of accompaniment to the melody. It is unclear whether the Bb serves as a reminder of the relative major or whether it points us in the direction of the tonicG. In measure 15, as the first section of Part I comes to a cadence, the B-flat tremolando returns. Then, in measure 16, there is a tremolo on A. The ear expects at this point a tremolo on G, which would provide scale degrees 3, 2, and 1 in g minor. Alas, Liszt delays us the satisfaction of the tonic and returns to a tremolo on the B-flat. While the B-flat is merely friendly scale degree 3 in the g minor tonality already established in the listeners ear, this fact is obscured by the augmented chord played in the right hand on the downbeat of measure 17. The B-flat creates a deliciously crunchy dissonance with the C-flat in the augmented chord above it. Using augmented chords in a chromatically descending fashion from measures 11 through 20, Liszt creates a tremendous amount of harmonic instability. Though is worth noting that, theoretically speaking, an augmented chord is a perfectly symmetrical chord in all its inversions and contains 2 whole steps between each chord member in each of those inversions once enharmonically respelled. This nuance speaks yet again to the recurring theme of contrast in Trube Wolken. How is it that a chord which appears on paper to be so balanced can be so dissonant and sound so obscure? The alternation between B-flat and A returns in the second portion of Part II at measure 33. B-flat serves as the root of the arpeggiated augmented chord found in the left hand and Liszt writes the B-flat as a half note, emphasizing its importance to the listener. In the measure that immediately follows, A stands in for B-flat while the chord remains the same. Liszt continues similarly, providing the left hand accompaniment for his upward rising ostinato, alternating between B-flat and A and changing to a new augmented chord every 2 measures. The pieces final two measures are of particular harmonic interest. In measure 44, the ascending ostinato ends on an F#, which is the leading tone of g minor. After a full measure of rest, Liszt rearticulates the highly suggestive F# as part of a rolled chord which also contains an e minor triad and a pedal tone A, which recalls the ominous pedal tone tremolos from earlier in the piece. In the following measure, we hear the same chord again, but with one alteration: Both F#s are resolved up to G! (Could this be a bit of sun peeking out from behind the Grey Clouds?) Amid the ambiguity of these two final chords, Liszt does not fail to provide us the resolution we have been looking for throughout this piece, and yet he does so with such subtlety and finesse without ruining the mood he has created.

Section 3: Motivic and Thematic Elements Liszts six-note theme is in g minor, which agrees with the key signature Liszt provides the piece. The first three notes of the six-note melody represent scale degrees 5, 1, and #4 in g minor. The raised fourth scale degree adds an unexpected and interesting tension to the short melody as it drives the melody along to the D, scale degree 5, whence Liszt begins a descending g minor triad. It is not until the listener hears this descending triad that we have confirmation of the key. And in fact, until the Bb, the second to last note of the melody, we cannot even be sure whether we are in major or minor modeas the raised fourth scale degree is often indicative of Lydian. Liszt goes one step further to emphasize the tension of the C#, which notably forms an interval of an augmented fourth with the G that precedes it: He begins the melody on the second beat of the four-beat measure every single time! The 2-beat C# is as a result tied over the bar to a C# on beat 1 of the following bar. The melody moves again on beat 2 of its second measure. The emphasis of the downbeat lends the dissonance a strong, unexpected emphasis. The material for the bridge at measure 21 is derived from the main theme, but Liszt modifies the melody to generate anticipation, making it an effective bridge. Instead of the descending triad at the end of the melody, Liszt descends from scale degree 5 of g minor to B-flat and hiccups. The ear expects the complete g minor triad, but we do not have the pleasure of its stability until the return of the original theme at the beginning of Part II at measure 25. With the beginning of Part II, the two-bar theme returns as an accompaniment. Above it is a wandering melody, which creates a mostly 2:1 counterpoint. While filled with longing and emotional intensity, the texture from measure 25 to measure 32 is sparse and simplistic, which recalls the eerie opening of the piece in which only the theme is presented. Then, an upward reaching ostinato enters at measure 33. This chromatically ascending line yearns and pines as it creeps slowly upward. This adds to the melancholic, wallowing quality of the piece. For more on this poetic theme, it is worth noting the structure of the main musical theme itself: a slowly ascending and then slowly descending melody of two bars. There is a sighing quality to this organization. It calls to mind the slow, sure, and steady breath of deep sleep or perhaps of a drunken, depressive stupor.

Section 4: Summary Despite a palpable emotional depth and intensity, this piece is short and contains few notes, relatively speaking. It illustrates how a good composer can write economically and still be provocative. I acquired some familiarity with a body of Liszts work that I didnt beforehand know existed. According to Grove Music Online, Liszt experienced depression and ailing health late in his life, giving rise to this body of music filled with lament and grief. This illustrates the importance and helpfulness of knowing a composers biography and what was going on in his life when interpreting a piece of his. (The same can be said of any artist and his artwork.) The tonal qualities of Trube Wolken are perhaps not immediately apparent, but the elements of tonality need not be immediately apparent in a tonal piece. Upon closer examination, scale degree and function play a large role in Trube Wolken, as in the way the #4 moves expectedly up to scale degree 5 in the theme or in the way the F# resolves up to the G to confirm g minor in the stacked chords at the very end of the piece.