CD1 CD2 FRANZ LISZT (1811–1886) DEBUSSY Sonetti del Petrarca Preludes, Book 2 (1912–13) (38:30) From Années de pèlerinage— 1 I. Brouillards (2:50) Deuxième Année: “Italie” (c.1837–49) 2 II. Feuilles mortes (3:00) 1 Sonetto No. 47: 3 III. La Puerta del Vino (3:05) Benedetto sia ‘l giorno (5:41) 4 2 IV. “Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses” Sonetto No. 104: (3:08) Pace non trovo (6:07) 5 3 V. Bruyères (3:03) Sonetto No. 123: 6 I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi (7:38) VI. “Général Lavine”— excentric (2:32) 7 VII. La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (4:20) CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918) 8 Preludes, Book 1 (1909–10) (40:20) VIII. Ondine (3:28) 9 4 IX. Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. I. Danseuses de Delphes (3:08) (2:19) Cedille Records is a trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation devoted to promot- 5 ing the finest musicians and ensembles in the Chicago area. The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation’s activities are sup- II. Voiles (3:41) bk X. Canope (3:14) 6 ported in part by contributions and grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies including III. Le vent dans la plaine (2:01) bl XI. Les tierces alternées (2:28) the Alphawood Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, NIB Foundation, Negaunee Foundation, 7 Sage Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (CityArts III Grant), and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. IV. “Les sons et les parfums tournent bm XII. Feux d’artifice (4:23) Contributions to The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation may be made at www.cedillerecords.org or by calling 773-989-2515. dans l’air du soir” (3:33) 8 V. Les collines d’Anacapri (3:10) 9 LISZT Producer James Ginsburg VI. Des pas sur la neige (4:43) bn bk Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este (1877) (7:12) Engineer Bill Maylone VII. Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest (3:17) bo Vallée d’Obermann (1848–54) (13:30) bl Graphic Design Melanie Germond VIII. La fille aux cheveux de lin (2:35) 24 bm Cover Photo Peter Schaaf IX. La sérénade interrompue (2:24) TT: (59:30) bn X. La Cathédral engloutie (6:19) Recorded August 28 & 29, 2006 (Debussy) and February 8 & 9, 2007 (Liszt) at WFMT Chicago bo XI. La danse de Puck (2:38) Microphones Sennheiser MKH 40, Schoeps MK 21 Jorge Federico bp XII. Minstrels (2:08) Steinway Piano Piano Technician Charles Terr OSORIO TT: (60:04) piano CDR 90000 098 P&C 2007 Cedille Records, trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. All Rights Reserved. WHAT DID THE WEST WIND SEE . descriptive “Four Seasons” violin concertos, fication — that all forms of art spring from Debussy knew how Schumann and Liszt had . and does it tell us anything with image-filled sonnets attached. Basically, similar sources and inspirations. Thus poetry, translated landscapes and legends into strik- about the music? though, Bach concerti, Haydn symphonies, painting, sculpture, dance, music, and drama ing character-pieces for piano and adapted and Beethoven string quartets are pieces were all related. Romantic-era composers their techniques to his own style: a keyboard of music that are simply about themselves. such as Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt, Mahler, sound that involves more diffuse melodic We must agree that the beauty of a work Their interest lies in the manipulation of and Richard Strauss were no lesser musical patterns, more chromatic harmonies, and of art will always remain a mystery, in other melodies and rhythms; in the decoration, craftsmen than their Classical predecessors, more complex rhythmic structures. Above words we can never be absolutely sure “how it’s harmonization, and development of basic and their works can be analyzed and under- all he was fascinated with the sound of the made.” We must at all costs preserve this magic themes; and in key relationships and modu- stood in strictly musical terms. But they and piano — its whole extended range from which is peculiar to music and to which, by its lations. The works are not intended to have others of their time added another dimen- highest to lowest, the ways its pedals can nature, music is of all arts the most receptive. extra-musical meaning, but to be heard and sion, another level of interest: the evocation change the quality of the tone color, the — Claude Debussy appreciated strictly on their own terms. of moods and emotions, the depiction in brilliance to be achieved with fast runs, the quoted by biographer Roger Nichols instrumental sonority of natural scenes and power of huge chords, all the resonance Abstract music (or what some academic snobs of the metaphors of poetry. of this very powerful instrument. This fas- The mind in creation is as a fading coal which have called “pure” music) did not die out with cination with piano sound seems to have some invisible influence, like an inconstant the advent of Romanticism in the 19th cen- Claude Debussy, a post-Romantic, shows his inspired the creation of his two books of wind, awakens to transitory brightness; this tury, or with the proliferation of approaches skepticism of his forerunners’ ideas when he Preludes at least as much as any poem or pic- power arises from within, like the colour of that has characterized the 20th and 21st points out “this magic which is peculiar to ture referenced in the pieces’ individual titles. a flower which fades and changes as it is centuries. But a parallel trend emerged from music.” He recognized that, in the end, music In fact, Debussy placed his preludes’ titles at developed, and the conscious portions of our the change of attitude ushered in by the is different from other arts. It is sound that the end of each piece, not the beginning, natures are unprophetic either of its approach Romantic movement. Romantics in all the produces meaning from itself, from the inter- which suggests they were, to some extent at or its departure. artistic disciplines sought to discover the nal relationships of intervals, the movement least, afterthoughts. The Preludes are, essen- — Percy Bysshe Shelley connections between humankind and the of rhythms, and the timbre of the instru- tially, experiments in sound: What are the “The Defence of Poetry” natural world, and between present life and ments used to play it. He appreciated, at the possibilities of chromatic harmony and non- the past (often an idealized past, a “golden same time, the influence that extra-musical traditional scales? How can Spanish-guitar age,” to which they longed to return). They stimuli can have on composition: the echo sounds, music-hall tunes, and dance rhythms Instrumental music of the Baroque and placed prime emphasis upon emotion rather of an especially evocative line of poetry, be incorporated into piano miniatures? What Classical eras can be characterized as abstract than what they saw as cold rationalism. They sunlight on the sea, the glow of moonlight, colors can the black-and-white keys call forth — with limited exceptions, such as Vivaldi’s came to believe — with considerable justi- the special colors and shadings of a painting. in the listeners imagination? 4 5 Since musical talent usually reveals itself very sonority and using the sounds of his instru- Liszt expresses these unsettled emotions in More than half a century separates the pub- early in life, it’s not surprising that Franz Liszt ment to evoke romantic yearning. part by straying almost constantly between lication of Liszt’s first two “Années de pèleri- was a child-prodigy pianist. By his twenties, major and minor modes. The piece’s agitated nage” books (1852, 1856) and the appearance he was an internationally-famous virtuoso Sonetto 47 begins with the word “Benedetto” opening indicates the poet’s mental turbu- of Debussy’s Preludes, of which Volume One who was already becoming known as a com- (Blessed): lence; its improvisatory nature conveys the appeared in 1910 and Volume Two in 1913. poser. An interruption to his early career Blessed be the day, the month, the year sense of a mind (and heart) passing through During this time, musical language changed came in the form of Countess Marie d’Agoult, The season, the time, the hour, the moment a rapid progression of contrary moods; and considerably. In contrast to Liszt’s keyboard the first of the two great loves of his life, with The lovely scene, the spot where I was put in thrall all this is reinforced by chromatic harmo- sonnets, Debussy’s indefinite harmonies and whom Liszt escaped the public eye for sev- By two lovely eyes which have bound me fast. nies used much more prominently than in evanescent melodies sound decidedly mod- eral years in the mid-1830s, on an extended Sonetto 47. Yet to conclude this declamatory ern and different. He drew their titles, and tour of Switzerland and Italy, reveling in The lyrical opening melody gradually storm of feeling, Liszt writes a quiet ending. perhaps their inspiration, from sources as the beauties of nature and art. He created becomes more passionate, and the basic varied as sculpture, drawings, legends, the a sort of musical diary, or travelogue, based diatonic harmony becomes more chroma- Sonetto 123 opens quietly, in reference to world of nature, and poets from Shakespeare on his impressions of the sights along the tic, as the poet and composer reflect on Petrarch’s vision of angels; he then compares to the French Symbolists. Another major way. These took their final form, after much the joy they derive from contemplation of this glimpse of heaven with the sight, once influence was the realm of dance music.