Liszt: 6 Consolations / Ave Maria

Featuring

Philip Thomson
Franz Liszt

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Compositional Technique

Liszt's Miserere d'après Palestrina, a short piece, creates a vibrant effect through increasing complexity in its three statements of the theme, moving from chordal to tremolo to arpeggiated writing.

Composition History

Liszt's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses is dedicated to Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein (1819-1887), a close friend who lived in extreme religious devotion.

Composition History

The piece Funérailles from Liszt's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses is a reference to the tragic events of the 1848-1849 Hungarian War of Independence, during which Liszt lost close friends.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt, a lifelong Catholic, believed his increasing Christian faith would lead him to a 'better music-conscience' and help him fulfill his artistic task.

Performer Biography

Philip Thomson, the performer on this album, is a Liszt specialist who arranged, performed, and recorded the until then uncompleted De profundis for piano and orchestra with the Hungarian State Orchestra.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a child prodigy who captivated audiences for over sixty years, giving his first public performance at age nine and his last at seventy-four.