Liszt: Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works

Featuring

Mari Askvik
Øystein Stensheim
Olle Holmgren
Leif Ove Andsnes
Grete Pedersen
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

Franz Liszt

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Composer Biography

Franz Liszt's father, Ádám Liszt, was a cellist in the Esterházy family's court orchestra when Haydn was its conductor and house composer.

Composer Biography

A major turning point in Liszt's life was his retirement as a touring pianist in 1847, at age 35, after which he settled in Weimar.

Composition History

Liszt's Via Crucis (The Way of the Cross) was begun in Rome in 1866 and completed in Budapest in 1879, but remained unperformed until 1929.

Compositional Technique

Consolations No. 4 was once nicknamed the 'Star Consolation' due to an image of a radiant star printed above the music in the original 1850 score.

Composer Biography

In 1861, Liszt resigned his post in Weimar and moved to Rome, where he took minor Catholic orders and became informally known as 'Abbé Liszt'.

Compositional Technique

In Via Crucis, Liszt includes German Lutheran chorales at Stations VI and XII, recreating the example of Bach's Passion settings in his own harmonized style.

Composition History

Liszt's Consolations for solo piano were revised for publication around 1850, with No. 3 in D-flat major being a new work replacing an earlier C-sharp minor piece.