Liszt: New Discoveries, Vol. 2

Leslie Howard Hyperion CDA67455

This is probably the most important discovery of the new
millennium regarding piano music from the 19th century. It shows that Liszt was working hard on a collection which was associated with Lammartine, Marie d'Agoult and a lady friend by the name of Marie Kalergis.
The story of the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses collection starts back in 1833-1834 when Liszt wrote a piece simply entitled "Harmonies poetiques et religieuses".
Towards the end of 1845 he planned a cycle with the title Harmonies poetiques et religieuses (with Preludes et Harmonies poetiques et religieuses as an alternative
title). These pieces "had been previously overlooked because they appeared to be work in progress" according to Leslie Howard. Liszt also listed an inventory of eleven
pieces in shorthand, but it is not clear whether all the pieces found in the sketchbook are found on this list. In any case, it was the Dutch pianist Albert Brusse who first examined, edited and recorded these pieces, and now Howard comes up with his own
edition and recording.
Almost ten years earlier , Brusse made a similar discovery when he tracked down, edited and subsequently recorded the 1847 version of the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses
cycle. Howard produced his own edition and recording in 1996 (vol 47 on Hyperion).While the 1847 version and the final version of the cycle have many pieces in common, the are only two which survived from the 1845-1846 version are those
who finally became Pensee des Morts and Hymne de l'enfant a son reveil.
The first piece on this recording contains material that later found its way into Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude (the B flat major section just after the middle
section in D). The next piece is called Langeur (?) (sic) and is more of an elegy with a choral-like middle section and coda. The third piece is E major is most probably some
sort of love song, which is supported by the key and the resemblance to Cantique d'amour (3/4 and accompanying triads).
The fourth piece, Derniere Illusion (?), was later heavily revised and published as the Premiere Ballade. The second theme found its way to the coda of the last
Consolation. Maybe Liszt was contemplating his relation to Marie d'Agoult, and when she decided to publish an thinly veiled autobiographical novel about hers and Liszt's relationship, he felt that a need to reformulate his musical ideas.
The fifth piece is akin in style to Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude according to Howard, and the key of Gflat (Fsharp) major is indeed Liszt major religious key. The sixth piece, Attente, was completed by Howard who added a coda
of ten bars. The seventh piece is the first version of the second Liebesträume in E major. Finally, the eight piece with the title M.K. (Marie Kalergis) was completed by
Howard based on Liszt's sketches.
To sum up, this collection can stand on its own and there is nothing "incomplete" about the music. A combination of Howard's editing, piano playing and the excellent sound have produced an important contribution to the Romantic Piano
repertoire.
What about the rest of the disc? The most interesting is probably a faithful transcription of the song O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst, more known as Liebesträume no 3 in its final piano version. Another little gem is the Pensees
Nocturne. Finally, for die hard Lisztians Howard plays through the first complete version of the second piano concerto in A major. It is complete in the sense that it is written for solo piano "with some indications of instrumentation" . It is interesting to note how much this first version has in common with the final version. The basic structure is there from the very start, but some sections have been shortened while
other have been extended, cadenzas and transitions are different. But in essence though, it is more or less an early work dating from around 1839.