F. LISZT - Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude S.173/3 (Jorge Bolet)

JORGE BOLET plays "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude" from the 1853 cycle "Harmonies Poétiques Et Religieuses S.173" by FRANZ LISZT.
The 1850s were a period of revisionism for Liszt when it came to the publication of his compositions. In many ways, he was inspired to "re-compose" a significant amount of his works into more refined (and more pianistic) collections like the first two volumes of the Anees de Pelerinage, the Transcendental Etudes, the Consolations and of course the Harmonies Poétiques Et Religieuses. It is also no surprise then, how in the following decade, Liszt's compositional output (generally speaking) took a turn to become largely religious music, following his decision to fully dedicate the rest of his life to his Catholic faith. Even though many of his revisioned pieces of the aforementioned collections already contained religious themes, one piece stands out as particularly sacred, not only by its scale alone.

The "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude" is the most foreshadowing piece of what was yet to come with Catholic works like the Christus Oratorio, Via Crucis, or Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este, as it is not just his largest religion-inspired solo keyboard work of the 1850s, but also one of his most moving pieces in general, to the point where it almost convinces the listener to convert to Christianity. The F-Sharp-minor key is almost always utilized to convey a sense of dreaminess in Liszt's music, and here it is juxtaposed with the celebratory key of D-Major in the middle section, separated in the sheet music by a dashed line. The final few bars are particularly beautiful, as the two keys conclude the piece in the most gut-wrenching way with large, but calm chords. This very reflective, introspective and "fatherly" piece was written with a poem by Lamartine, Liszt's spiritual and political mentor, in mind. The final line of the poem then perhaps most accurately indicates the intended purpose of Liszt's reason to write such a peaceful and ultimately optimistic piece: "A new man revives within me and begins again".

COMPOSER/PERFORMER: 00:00

MODERATO: 00:12
POCO A POCO ANIMATO IL TEMPO: 03:27
TEMPO 1: 05:45
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
ANDANTE: 06:57
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
PIU SOSTENUTO, QUASI PRELUDIO: 09:26
ALLEGRO MODERATO: 11:11
RITENUTO AD LIBITUM: 14:20
PIU LENTO: 14:54
ANDANTE: 15:20
DOLCE PERDENDOSI: 15:49

Composer: Franz Liszt (1811-1886) - 00:06
Performer: Jorge Bolet (1914-1990) - 00:06

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Video made by pianobern69