Mephisto Waltz no.3 S. 216

In the 1880s, twenty years after the Mephisto Waltz no.1, Liszt again drew his inspiration from this devilish figure to write half a dozen piano pieces without, however, acknowledging the reference to Nikolaus Lenau’s Faust: the Mephisto Waltzes no.2 (1881), no.3 (1883), no.4 (1885, unfinished), as well as the Mephisto Polka (1882-1883), and the Bagatelle without Tonality which he had also at one time considered entitling Mephisto Waltz. He dedicated the Mephisto Waltz no. 3 to Marie Jaëll, who became his secretary after the death of her husband, Alfred, in 1882. She completed the piece and played it in Weimar to Liszt, who deferred to the French pianist and composer, saying: “Here, this is your Mephisto waltz. I have completely changed it. It was you who played it yesterday in such a way as to make me aware of what it should be.” This third Mephisto Waltz is slightly less virtuosic than the two earlier waltzes, even though the octaves and chords in its second half demand strength and endurance. On the other hand, it contains some wholly remarkable writing, characteristic of Liszt’s late works. Particularly noteworthy is the principal motif, introduced in the first few bars, in which the combination of fourths with a third brings to mind the tuning of a guitar. The piece is full of chromatic progressions and strange, non-functional harmonies. It boldly concludes with an open-ended D sharp, which leaves the piece feeling unfinished. It falls to Mephisto to pave the way for the “music of the future”.