The great Sviatoslav Richter plays (in a live recording-he stubbornly resisted studio recordings as much as possible) “Vallée dObermann” from Franz Liszt’s “Book I Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse”: “Could I embody and unbosom now That which is most within me,—could I wreak My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw Soul—heart—mind—passions—feelings--strong or weak— All that I would have sought, and all I seek, Bear, know, feel—and yet breathe—into one word, And that one word were Lightning, I would speak; But as it is, I live and die unheard, With a most voiceless thought, sheathing it as a sword.” -Lord Byron, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” Liszt prefaced this piano piece with the above passage. “The other two captions come from the 1804 novel ‘Obermann’ by Étienne Pivert de Senancour, from whence the piece’s title comes, the most important being: ‘What do I want? Who am I? What do I ask of nature?’ Discouraged by his misfortunes, Obermann retreats into the countryside and his reflections become the subject of Liszt’s tone poem.” -Joseph DuBose
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 12:37:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015