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Liszt may well have met Mariano Soriano Fuertes y Piqueras (1817–1880) in Córdoba in 1844, but he has left us no clue as to the provenance of the Feuille morte, which may come from a zarzuela. (The title is probably Liszt’s.) Liszt’s piece was published around 1845 (with a double ‘r’ in the Spaniard’s name on the title page) and promptly disappeared from view—the only reprint since seems to be that made by the Liszt Society in its 1989 Journal. Liszt’s piece is typical of his imaginative paraphrases upon a single song or aria. The three themes are punctuated by a questioning refrain, and the whole is then varied with a coda which recalls the sombre introduction.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 1997