Liszt's Open Structures and the Romantic Fragment

An “aesthetics of the Romantic fragment” illuminates matters of prolongation and closure in Liszt works that (1) contain no decisive cadential arrival on the tonic, either within the body of the work or at the end, and (2) are based upon a dominant-function harmony. Consideration of the relationship between these works and other kinds of tonally open compositions in the Liszt repertoire builds upon insights offered by recent scholars who have written about the aesthetics of fragmentary forms in nineteenth-century art: Charles Rosen, John Daverio, and Thomas McFarland. Liszt's works analyzed include “Einst” (S. 332, 1878), “Verlassen” (S. 336, 1880), Mephisto Waltz No. 3 (S. 216, 1883), Valse oubliée No. 4 (S. 215 no. 4, 1883), “En rêve” (S. 207, 1885), “Csárdás obstiné” (S. 225, 1886), “Resignazione” (S. 263, 1877), and the Second Elegy (S. 197, 1877).