Liszt's effort here is more of a paraphrase than a transcription of the "Spinning Chorus" from Wagner's opera The Flying Dutchman. The story of the opera, as most know, involves Van der Decken, the Dutchman, who is consigned to sail the high seas for life, his only hope of escaping his lonely fate resting with the true soul of a woman.

The "Spinning Chorus" comes in the first scene of Act II, and its perky, playful melody is sung by a chorus of girls, gathered around a hearth. They sing, "Whir and whirl, good wheel, gaily, gaily turn!" as they spin the wheel. Liszt captures the gaiety and high spirits of the scene, as he adapts the choral music quite well to the piano. He also effectively employs a slight variant of the Dutchman's motif, conveying a melancholy reflective quality to suggest the sailor's lonely fate. In the Wagner opera, this scene is all merriment until Senta sings. Liszt, however, does not go that far into the scene, preferring to contrast the gaiety of the choral music with the sadness of the Dutchman's motif. He interpolates the latter between the two verses of the chorus.

Liszt wrote the piece in 1860 and published it the following year. He dedicated it to L. Jungman.



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