Liszt, Sursum corda

[rachfan]

From Annes de Pelerinage (Troisieme Annee).

Update: I decided to delete the CD cut (47 downloads) and substitute the original tape recording which I believe has better fidelity, although mp3 compression dulls anything posted here.

[rachfan]

Here is a seldom-heard work of Liszt.  I believe that many consider the Years of Pilgramage--Switzerland, Italy, and the Third Year to be almost like a literary trilogy.  But actually they're not.  "Suisse" was published in 1855 and "Italie" in 1858 (during Liszt's virtuosic period).  Even those dates are a bit misleading because some of the pieces therein were composed 20 years previously, so were actually collected for inclusion in those volumes.  The "Troisieme Annee" wasn't published until 1883, nearly half a century later!  Also, while the earlier two sets were musical travel vinettes, the third set was based more on Liszt's religious contemplations at the Villa d'Este.  Thus, The Third Year is much closer to Liszt's late works as opposed to having any real connection to the earlier two volumes of the Pilgrimages other than the title of the set. 

Probably the best known work in The Third Year is "Les jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este" which was surprisingly impressionistic, foreshadowing Ravel's "Jeux d'eau".  The two pieces entitled "Aux Cypres de la Villa d'Este" also have elements of pre-impressionism in my opinion.

The work at hand is "Sursum corda" meaning "Let us lift our hearts high."  Comments welcome. 

[pianistimo]

are there excerpts of hymns in the sursum chorda?  i think an early american hymnal had the same name.

*can i say something?  liszt really botched religious music. take his arrangements of the preludes and fugues of bach.  they lose touch with reality and just take off on their own like there isn't any purpose to them.  that they should go on forever just spinning out into space.  look how he bashes the last chords in the sursum.  despite his periods of so-called contemplation - i really can't see him behaving in church.

[thalberg]

Beautiful piece!  I always respect when people choose seldom-heard repertoire.  Lots of passion in your playing.

[rachfan]

Hi pianistimo,

Well, until Liszt took minor orders in the church, he barely behaved in a conventional manner, if you get my gist.    I've heard OF the hymn you mention, but am not familiar with it.  "Sursum corda" is the 7th and final piece of the Third Year.  It might be that Liszt wanted to conclude the set with piece of great finesse--not that many pianists would play the entire set in recital, although it has been recorded that way in our day anyway.

As far as Liszt botching religious music, I must say in his defense that I think his "Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude" (No. 3 from Harmonies poetiques et religieuses") is absolutely fantastic.  It's on a different plane.  Are you familiar with it? 

[rachfan]

Hi thalberg,

Thanks for your compliments!  I really enjoyed learning this piece.  I didn't memorize it though, as you could probably tell from the page turn.  The recording itself sounds a bit dull in its sonics--although not a bad sound--leading me to think that I might have had a Dolby filtering switch on by accident.  I have a lot of "repertoire to do", but someday I'd like to go back to this volume to do one of the "Cypres" pieces as well as the "Jeux d'Eau", which I prefer to the Ravel composition.