Liszt: Sonata in B minor

Featuring

Andrew von Oeyen
Franz Liszt

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Composer Biography

Franz Liszt, a charismatic Hungarian, met Beethoven and Schubert in Vienna and studied composition with Schubert's teacher, Salieri.

Performer Biography

Andrew von Oeyen, the pianist on this album, made his solo orchestral debut at age 10 and has performed with major orchestras worldwide.

Compositional Technique

Liszt pioneered thematic transformation, a system of unrestricted variation allowing a repetitive motif to unfold naturally, and used a radically new chromatic approach to harmony.

Composer Biography

Liszt was a major benefactor and advocate for Richard Wagner, conducting the first performance of Wagner's opera Lohengrin and later becoming his father-in-law.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt was a musical 'omnivore' who absorbed and honored all musical movements and traditions around him, helping establish romantic musical expression.

Historical Context

Liszt and Wagner led the 'progressive musical forces' in the 'war of the romantics,' a feud with Johannes Brahms and the 'old guard' over the future of Germanic music.

Critical Reception

Tim Page of the Washington Post praised Andrew von Oeyen's Kennedy Center recital debut, calling his performance of Liszt's Sonata in B Minor the finest he had heard in many years.