When Liszt came to stay in Weimar in 1848, he had the ambition to compose some works, especially in the field of orchestral music, in order to prove his ability in applying the “Grand Form”. Before achieving his goal he hesitated and even committed errors. But finally he arrived. One of his greatest successes was the ingenious adaptation of Beethoven’s sonata form, which he did so skillfully that sometimes – with superficial analysis – you will not be conscious of Beethoven’s influence.
In this article the author tries to show how the sonata form is used as an underlying frame for the structure in the following works: the Dante Sonate, Les Préludes, Prométhée and the B minor Sonate.
In the conclusion the author gives a personal judgment on the particular situation of these works, inspired by Beethoven’s model, in the general frame of Liszt’s musical production.