Best remembered for his extraordinary advancement of pia technique, Franz Liszt saw himself in quite a different light: as an invative composer prepared to move beyond convention into uncharted waters. He and Richard Wagner were allies in Zukunftsmusik, the music of the future, a new approach that was liberated from all prescribed rules of musical form. Liszt invented the tone poem, and this work is his most famous example.Inspired by Goethe's great verse drama, A Faust Symphony premiered in 1857. The three-movement work musically depicts the essence of Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles, the characters who drive Goethe's tale. Brilliantly invative and endlessly fascinating in its transformations of thematic materials, the work has influenced many major composers, including Strauss and Debussy, and remains frequently studied, performed, and recorded. This affordable edition was reproduced from an authoritative text and features an informative Introduction by a rewned expert on Liszt.