It was not Liszt’s title, but was later added by an editor in an effort to make the score more salable. The subtitle, “Un Sospiro,” (“a sigh”) should be taken with a grain of salt. (Similar ear-twisting chromaticism occurs in this passage from Liszt’s Faust Symphony). Andrew Lloyd Webber pays homage to this kind of mystery-evoking chromatic progression in the final chords of The Phantom of the Opera, which happen to be in the same key as Liszt’s Concert Study. As one voice rises, the other falls, while our perception of the home key is temporarily suspended. To the end, it’s trying to pull away to some far-flung harmonic world.Īnd if that’s not enough harmonic adventure for you, listen to Liszt’s alternative ending (not heard in the clip below), based on a descending whole tone scale. For a moment, a harmonic sequence set on a descending bass line feels poised for a brave new modulation- something like this surprise key change in Liszt’s orchestral tone poem, Les Preludes. There’s a hint of the Dresden Amen, which plays such an important role in Wagner’s opera, Parsifal, completed nearly forty years later. As the final resolution draws near, it’s easy to sense that this is music which doesn’t want to find an ultimate rest. Or listen to the dark Romanticism of the piece’s lamenting final bars. Just listen to this passage in which dominant seventh chords from two competing keys momentarily clash. It goes without saying that Franz Liszt’s innovative harmonies were shocking and way ahead of their time when this music was written in the mid-ninteenth century. It’s also an atmospheric character piece which takes us on some wild harmonic adventures. 3 is much more than a dazzling technical exercise.
Maintaining all of this with a sense of ease pushes the pianist to the technical brink, and of course that was Liszt’s point. Listen to the sparkling splashes of color in this passage. As the piece progresses, the voicing gets increasingly complex. The melody line alternates between the pianist’s left and right hands while the surrounding arpeggios remain smooth and flowing. But all of these voluptuous tones are played using an amazing slight of hand. Its score sprawls onto three musical staves and it sounds as if it requires, at minimum, three large and dexterous hands. 3 in D-flat Major, “Un Sospiro” is a skillfully delivered magic trick. On a technical level, Franz Liszt’s Concert Study No.
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