Hyperion Records

When Liszt reissued the transcriptions of six songs from Die schöne Müllerin—the Müllerlieder—he made rather few changes to his first thoughts: the plan remains that of the earlier versions, but various subtle alterations are effected. In Das Wandern, as in Wohin?, it is only a matter of a chord or an arpeggio sign here and there. In Der Müller und der Bach the opportunity is taken here to present the alternative text of the third verse, which is in fact also present in the earlier version. The actual alterations are otherwise few. In Der Jäger and Die böse Farbe, Liszt simplifies the text in many subtle ways, mostly for the performer’s convenience, and in Ungeduld he has second thoughts about an extra little bit of counterpoint he introduced in the bass line towards the end of the earlier version, and it is now omitted.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 1995