Hyperion Records

Unusually, Helges Treue (‘Helge’s Loyalty’) derives from another composer’s work: Felix Draeseke (1835-1913) composed a song to the ballad by Moritz, Graf von Strachwitz, and Liszt, who did much to encourage his pupil Draeseke’s work, adapted it as a recitation. For some reason Liszt’s piece remained unpublished until 1874 when his interest in melodrama returned. The music is fulsomely Romantic, and Liszt’s fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from the original once-famed student’s homage to his master’s style.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 1996