All Liszt Piano Recital

First taught music by his father, Adam, an official on the Esterhazy estate and an enthusiastic piansit and cellist, Franz was able to study with Carl Czerny when the family moved to Vienna in 1821. The young Liszt quickly developed an accomplished technical brilliance. He also had lessons in composition with Antonio Salieri and this gave him a theoretical basis for his natural improvisory flare. Still in his teens, began on a career as a traveling virtuoso, performing in most parts of Europe. Hearing Paganini play the violin in 1831, Liszt set himself the task of developing a similar astounding virtuosity on the piano. His concert successes and increasing good looks as he matured attracted a number of female admirers, including many from the nobility.

In 1836, Liszt left Paris for Switzerland with Countess Marie d’Agoult. The various places they visited inspired several compositions, one of them ‘Valée d’Obermann’, which Liszt published in 1842 as part of Album d’un voyageur. Seven of the pieces in this set were later revised and published in 1855 as Anées de Pèlerinage I, Suisse. 'Valleé d'Obermann', No 6, is the most extensive composition of the set. The published score is preceded by extracts from E.P. Sénamcour's novel Obermann (1804) and lines from Byron's Childe Harold describing the power of unexpressed thoughts and feelings.

Liszt’s technique of ‘thematic transformation’ is very much a feature, with the opening descending theme providing the main material. Accompanied by repeated right-hand chords, the opening mood of peaceful contemplation is maintained throughout the first section. The theme is then given in the treble, first as a single line then in octaves, with a repeated chord accompaniment. A recitative passage gradually becomes more dramatic with bass passages marked precipitoso, perhaps suggesting the heights and depths of the scene. The theme is then repeated Lento, accompanied with delicate triplets. The music is gradually developed as the complexity of the texture grows with broad, operatic expansiveness. The piece closes with a final strong statement of the theme in the middle of the piano.