Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 04/21/1997, uploaded on 08/25/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The music of Franz Liszt’s late period was that of experimentation and personal reflection. Leaving Weimer in 1863, he lived a solitary life outside of Rome, though he occasionally took part in Rome’s musical culture and eventually travelled again giving master classes in piano. Reflecting his new solitary lifestyle, Liszt’s music turned deeply introspective, much in the same way as that of Bach and Beethoven did in their final years. One piece, a telling reflection of the mood of Liszt’s last years, is Recueillement, a brief but profound work for piano.

Meaning “Recollection,” Recueillement was actually composed as a gift to the Italian composer Lauro Rossi. Opening in C-sharp major, an introspective mood is established by arpeggios and the introduction of a flattened sixth scale degree, borrowed from the minor, in the third measure. This six measure phrase is repeated again a tone higher in D-sharp minor, the shift from a major tonality to a minor turning the music even more introspective. It begins a third time in E minor but grows in intensity as the bass, too, climbs with the rising harmonies to conclude in F-sharp minor, the subdominant of the original tonic. The next section changes in texture to a modal chant-like tune supported by a simple accompaniment of chords. Lead by the bass, the tonic of C-sharp major returns and a new melodic idea emerges punctuated by full-voiced rolled chords. As this melodic fragment rises into the upper register of the piano, the climax of the piece is reached but quickly recedes back into the pensive mood of before. Like a lingering shadow of some thought, the chant-like melody of before returns to lead the piece to its quiet and meditative close.      Joseph DuBose

courtesy of the Liszt-Kodaly Society of Spain