Many of Liszt's compositions are difficult to access today or have not yet been published at all, which often leads to gaps in current catalogues of his works. New discoveries, such as alternative versions of already known works, are constantly emerging. Numerous pieces selected for this series are rare; some have never been published before, while others have only recently been introduced to the public.
My thirty years of intensive research into Liszt's complete works would not have been possible without the help of many supporters. This 57th recording in this series offers an opportunity to express my particular gratitude to those who provided me with copies and thus enabled access to unpublished works. Special thanks are due to Kenneth Souter of the Liszt Society, Michael Short for preparing a catalogue of works, Lord Londonderry for his patronage, Dr. Kenneth Hamilton for his research on Liszt's operatic fantasies, Elgin Ronayne for materials from the Goethe-Schiller Archive in Weimar, and numerous other supporters worldwide.
Liszt's old catalogue of works lists a solo piano arrangement of the prelude from the Longfellow cantata "The Bells of Strasbourg Cathedral," S6 (1874). A footnote on the first page of the score suggests that the prelude could also be performed as an orchestral work without the choir. A piano reduction held in the Library of Congress demonstrates that the piece is indeed playable as a solo piano work, with some notable differences from the orchestral version.
This program also includes two further recordings of "The Cell in Nonnenwerth," a composition that Liszt personally held in high esteem. The second version cleverly combines two textual variants and reflects a melancholic atmosphere. The work "Madrigal," an earlier version of the Fifth Consolation, was recently released for the first time under the direction of Mária Eckhardt and offers a more original perspective on the material.
The elegies, as well as the cycles "Armored Songs" and "Rosario," demonstrate the stylistic range of Liszt's work. The "Fanfare" is a previously unpublished transcription for the unveiling of the monument to Carl August in Weimar. The program concludes with a recording of the "Weimar Folk Song," which presents the piano version of the choral pieces written for the laying of the foundation stone of the monument to Prince Carl August in 1857.