Mephisto Polka was composed by Franz Liszt in 1883 and is a tonal portrayal of the reminiscences of an old man, reliving the dances of his youth. It is an unusual piece, especially for Liszt, in that it carries no trace of the demonic romanticism of his earlier work nor a beguiling melody as in the Hungarian Rhapsodies. The somewhat fragmented melodic line is introduced very simply by the right hand then becomes a pulsing figure of hopping seconds that are, at the same time, discordant and unnerving. As this tonal pattern and its sparse accompaniment rise up the keyboard, the piece begins to sound like the music from a slightly deranged music box. The running eighth-note figures that Liszt intersperses in the middle section of this piece add a dreamlike quality. When the original theme is reintroduced, it discordantly hops up the keyboard again and finally comes to rest on a single, sustained note as if it were finally exhausted.

Atypical of Liszt's general compositional style, this disturbing little work is of interest primarily because it gives an insight into the reflective and lonely state of mind that plagued Liszt in his final years.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.