Élégie sur des motifs du Prince Louis Ferdinand de Prusse reminds us of the musical endeavours of many a nineteenth-century European royal—and Liszt knew most of them personally!—in a little piece, the origins of whose motifs, extended by Liszt into winsome melodies, remain unknown to the present writer despite much investigation! (The Prince (1772–1806) is best remembered as the dedicatee of Beethoven’s Third Concerto.) The Élégie dates from 1842 and was published in the present revised version in 1852 with a dedication to the Princess, who had furnished Liszt with a collection of her late husband’s music.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 1989