Mazeppa, S. 100, is the sixth in the cycle of twelve symphonic poems written during Liszt's time in Weimar,[1] however a thirteenth composition was added to his collection in 1882.
At the age of fifteen (1826), Liszt published twelve piano pieces titled Étude en 48 exercises dans les tons majeur et mineurs.
Both Mazeppa writings are based on the life of Ivan Stepanovich Mazepa-Koledinsky (c. 1632–1709) and Hugo's poem is included in Liszt's original manuscript.
[3] Hugo's poem introduces Mazeppa as a Ukrainian nobleman who became a page at the court of John Casimir, King of Poland.
Due to a love affair with the wife of a Podolian count, Mazeppa was punished and tied naked onto a wild horse that was violently heading toward Ukraine.
[6] After a silence, strings, bassoon and horn soloists express astonishment of the injured, raised by the trumpets at Allegro Marziale.
The Neue Wiener Musik-Zeitung [de], an Austrian magazine on music, published this review after a performance in Leipzig on April 16, 1857: Mazeppa was but faintly applauded.