Dante Symphony
After Dante's Divine Comedy
Liszt's symphony after the Divine Comedy. Inferno, Purgatorio, Magnificat. The Romantic imagination at its full reach.
Classical · Hungarian Romantic · 1811 · 1886
Franz Liszt
Composer of the keyboard sublime. Liszt extended the piano until it could carry the orchestra and the contemplative cell at once. He invented the symphonic poem, gave Europe its picture of the touring virtuoso, and ended his life in minor orders as Abbé Liszt. From the wild ride of Mazeppa to the silence of Vision, the listener walks the whole arc he walked.
XVII selections · 2h 30m
Works
Symphonic poems, études, and single pieces
Les Préludes
Symphonic Poem · 432 Hz
His most popular symphonic poem. "What is our life," asked Liszt, "but a series of preludes to that unknown song whose first solemn note is sounded by Death?"
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12
Piano
One of the great rhapsodies. Hungarian folk material taken to the height of virtuoso pianism.
Liebestraum
Love Dream
The most famous of the three Liebesträume. A nocturne of remembered tenderness.
Transcendental Étude No. 12
Chasse-neige · 432 Hz
The final and most demanding of the cycle. A snowstorm sweeping the keyboard.
Transcendental Étude No. 10
Allegro agitato molto · 432 Hz
Storm-passion turned into pure piano line.
Valse Impromptu
432 Hz
A short waltz, light-footed and unhurried.
Transcendental Étude No. 11
Harmonies du soir · 432 Hz
Evening harmonies. The ringing of distant bells across the keyboard.
Transcendental Étude No. 4
Mazeppa · 432 Hz
The wild ride bound to a runaway horse, transcribed for the keys. One of the most spectacular études ever written.
Transcendental Étude No. 7
Eroica · 432 Hz
The heroic étude. After Beethoven, in Liszt's hands.
Transcendental Étude No. 8
Wilde Jagd · 432 Hz
The wild hunt; pounding hooves under the fingertips.
Transcendental Étude No. 1
Preludio · 432 Hz
A short opening to the cycle of twelve.
Transcendental Étude No. 9
Ricordanza · 432 Hz
A reminiscence. The most tender of the cycle, a turn inward.
Transcendental Étude No. 5
Feux follets
Will-o'-the-wisps, glittering across the keyboard. Liszt at his most luminous.
Transcendental Étude No. 3
Paysage · 432 Hz
A landscape in piano. All light and stillness.
Transcendental Étude No. 6
Vision · 432 Hz
A meditation. The slow inner gaze of the cycle.
Transcendental Étude No. 2
Molto vivace · 432 Hz
A short, fleet étude of pure motion.