Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religieuses No.1, S.171d - Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt: Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religieuses No.1, S.171d - Franz Liszt (1st version of S.172a/11 and S.173/3) "The Sketchbook N5, held in the Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv in Weimar, contains complete drafts and sketches to a number of works, and the contents date from some time in 1845 to early 1847. In her doctoral thesis on the volume, Rena Charnin-Mueller refers to it as the ‘Tasso’ Sketchbook, both for ease of identification, and because the volume contains the first draft in short score of Liszt’s symphonic poem Tasso – Lamento e trionfo. The volume also contains the first draft (without organ) of the C minor Mass for men’s voices. Much of the remainder is piano music, and several works have already been in circulation, as well as published and recorded: the Cujus animam transcription, Spirto gentil, the Cavatine from Robert le Diable, and the Sketchbook begins with an untitled work which has been recorded as Prelude, S171d. This last piece is re-recorded here together with the seven pieces sketched immediately after it in the N5 Sketchbook under the generic title Liszt wrote at the beginning. These other seven pieces had been previously overlooked because they appeared to be work in progress, and it proved difficult to establish a definitive text until the present writer was able to devote the proper amount of time to examine the Sketchbook personally. Liszt’s generic title is the familiar Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, but in brackets he also suggests Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religieuses and we have taken that as our working title for the present set of pieces in order to avoid confusion with the single piece of 1833–4. The first piece is headed ‘Nancy 16 nov 45’. There are some signs of revision, ignored in the present reading, but taken up in the 1847 version of the piece. The musical material is the only part of the 1845–6 series which makes its way through the 1847 set and into the 1853 set – as part of Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude. (It is clear that the religious aspect of this project grew more firm over the years. After meeting the Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein in 1847, Liszt produced a much more meditative collection, and most of the earlier pieces were dropped.)" (Notes by Leslie Howard) Since we are ranning out of videos the video schedule might slow down sadly (probably one per week), but theres still several midis to record so let's hope theres a chance for these to be recorded... old video:    • Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religie...   Discord server:   / discord