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Track(s) taken from CDA67455

Pensées 'Nocturne', S168b

composer
1845

Leslie Howard (piano)
Recording details: April 2003
Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Produced by Tryggvi Tryggvason
Engineered by Tryggvi Tryggvason
Release date: May 2004
Total duration: 2 minutes 8 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Leslie Howard is once again an ardent and reflective champion in both his playing and in his brilliantly informative essay; he also promises further discoveries. Hyperion's sound and presentation is immaculate as ever’ (Gramophone)

‘His stylistic understanding is always impeccable, and as recorded here his Steinway makes a warmly appealing sound’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘So we learn more about this extraordinary composer, thanks to that rare combination of Howard's scholarly musicianship … and fearless keyboard technique, allied to the ongoing commitment of Hyperion Records—without which the entire musical world would be so much the poorer’ (International Record Review)

‘Howard's playing is so refined that even the almost impossible passages of the Concerto are made to seem easy and this is simply the best recorded piano sound I've heard in years’ (The Times)

‘No-one fascinated by Liszt, or by Romanticism at fever pitch, will tolerate being without this. Howard's Steinway sounds like it's in your living room—whispering, crooning, or thundering—up close and near. Liszt lives! Long live Liszt!’ (Fanfare, USA)
Beginning at the back of the N5 Sketchbook, Liszt made many small sketches for projected compositions which were never carried further. The only completed work in the final pages dates from exactly the same period as those in the collection of eight at the front of the book, and so is obviously to be considered apart. It looks as if Liszt intended to write more than one piece to go under the general title Pensées, but nothing can be made of the fragments which follow this little gem (the subtitle ‘Nocturne’ can only be deciphered with great effort) composed on 6 November 1845.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 2004

Prenant le carnet N5 par la fin, Liszt réalisa maintes petites ébauches d’œuvres demeurées à l’état de projet. L’unique composition achevée, dans les dernières pages, est exactement contemporaine du corpus de huit pièces consignées à l’autre bout du carnet et doit donc manifestement être considérée à part. Liszt semble avoir voulu écrire plus d’une pièce pour cadrer avec le titre Pensées, mais nous ne pouvons rien tirer des fragments qui suivent ce petit bijou (le sous-titre «Nocturne» n’est déchiffrable qu’au prix d’efforts intenses) composé le 6 novembre 1845.

extrait des notes rédigées par Leslie Howard © 2004
Français: Hypérion

Auf den letzten Blättern des Skizzenhefts N5 beginnend, schrieb Liszt zahlreiche kurze Entwürfe zu vorgesehenen Kompositionen nieder, die nie weiter ausgeführt wurden. Das einzige vollendete Werk, das aus den letzten Seiten hervorging, stammt aus genau der gleichen Zeit wie jene acht am Anfang des Hefts und muss darum natürlich gesondert betrachtet werden. Es sieht so aus, als habe Liszt vorgehabt, mehr als ein Werk unter dem Obertitel Pensées zu schreiben, aber aus den Fragmenten, die diesem kleinen, am 6. November 1845 komponierten Juwel folgen, ist nichts zu entnehmen (der Untertitel „Nocturne“ ist nur mit Mühe zu entziffern).

aus dem Begleittext von Leslie Howard © 2004
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

Other albums featuring this work

Liszt: Complete Piano Music
CDS44501/9899CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
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