Liszt's Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude

[cloches_de_geneve]

I think this is among Liszt's most striking piano compositions (he liked it himself and played it often for visitors), and yet it seems quite rarely learned or performed today. I started learning it over year ago, then put it aside, because I found it hard to read and to memorize. Now I am back trying to learn the second and third part of it.

Does anyone know/play this piece? How does it compare in terms of difficulty to more frequently played Liszt pieces such as Ballade 2, Funérailles, Concert Etudes, Valleé d'Oberman?

[mikey6]

I'm learning it at the moment.  It's a wonderful piece, Kentner has a great recording of it.
It's a big work so getting a good idea of the scope of the piece is relatively important.
The accompanying figurations are an absolute pain in the arse at first (actually still are for me, but it's early days) - you need a very malleable thumb and a 9th stretch would be of use.  It needs time to settle so if you've learnt it before, it should be on it's way.

[cloches_de_geneve]

Like you I was initially shocked by the streches required in the rh figuration. But believe it or not, they now feel almost natural (which is to say that one can also significantly improve one's technique by learning this piece).

I have Kentner's recording, which I agree is great. I also like Brendel's recording of it. In contrast, I find Arrau's and Bolet's interpretations too slow. Of course, picking an upbeat tempo doesn't make it any easier ...

[putzifra]

Stanislav Yovanovitch, "Performances very different from anything and everything I've heard before. They make me think of a forgotten time before piano playing became an essentially imitative art.
They are incandecent, titanic, lyrical and always committed, original, thought-provoking and fascinating....There is an important artistic message in play"
A prominent New York music critic, "Radu".
The Benediction is in the "1989 Royal Concerts CD".

[cloches_de_geneve]

Playing and learning this piece under the aegis of Bolet himself:

Starts about at Minute 4. And his lesson in Parts 2 & 3 of the series.

Interesting.

[mikey6]

I have the Budapest edition and in b.144-5, there's a decrescendo!  This is troubling me as it seems exactly the opposite to what one would normally do and I can't get it to work.  Is it the right marking?

[cloches_de_geneve]

I have the Budapest edition and in b.144-5, there's a decrescendo!  This is troubling me as it seems exactly the opposite to what one would normally do and I can't get it to work.  Is it the right marking?

Excellent question. I was also puzzled getting there and seeing this decrescendo just before the climax in the Henle Edition. I think there are two explanations. 1. This is simply a mistake that occurred somewhere between autograph and the first editions.
2. fff chords in the high register do not sound very good; perhaps Liszt wanted to indicate that one shouldn't rush up there and bang those chords in like crazy. Rather that one should exert a grain of restraint, favoring expression over mere loundness.

[sonny-man]

Hi friends of Liszt music!

Could anyone out there send me the sheet music (e.g., as PDF)  of that wonderful piece?

My email adress would be:

berkenkamp@web.de

Thanks // STEFAN