Liszt - Mephisto Polka, S217 (Filipec)

A fascinating and disturbing little work, written in 1883. Although in rhythm it is a very different dance from the Mephisto Waltzes, being in 2/4 time, the work begins with a figure not unlike that of the opening of the 2nd Mephisto Waltz, so that it can be regarded as an invocation-figure. Perhaps the most surprising feature of the work (except the incredibly unsettling ending) is its apparent almost complete absence of discordance—yet it sounds strange! Why is this? Firstly, there is the constant use of acciaccatura that is the vestigial echo of those in the first Mephisto Waltz, where they suggested the detuned fifths of the devil's fiddle; secondly there is the use of the mediant as root (0:20) that gives an uneasy feeling of being suspended as in a nightmare; thirdly there is the hypnotic repetition of phrases, even verbatim; fourthly, the atmospheric tremolando effects (3:11) which have previously symbolized ill omen in Liszt's late works (Unstern comes to mind); and fifthly the use of chromatic parallel progressions, which secure the works' Mephisto legacy. But the most subtle use is made of the tritone, seen in the second of the introductory sets of runs (B/F), and in the F-sharp/B-sharp interval in bar 50 (0:56) that recurs in the work.