Liszt-Les préludes cover (Breitkopf & Härtel, 1885)

This week I have begun to study Les préludes by Franz Liszt, a very popular orchestral work which, once again, has somehow managed to escape my eye for many years. This is what has made my symphonic journey such a pleasure, week after week. In many disciplines, you may find yourself dreading continuing, but from the start I knew this would work because it is an evolving project, with something new every week. I constantly find new works for myself, and the satisfaction only seems to grow.

When I first started the project in January 2012, I was very excited to finally gain familiarity with pieces that I’d long felt that I should already have intimate relationships with if I intended to continue calling myself a professional musician, so in that portion of each year there has been a tinge of shame as I wonder why it took me so many years to gain familiarity with Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Scheherazade. But, by midyear, I have found my way into deeper tracks, so to speak, and end up quite satisfied that I have found some pieces which orchestras may play on occasional seasons, but which for the most part won’t be found on television

Liszt-Les préludes first page (Breitkopf & Härtel, 1885)

commercials and movie trailers. Yet they’re fabulous pieces! It is the back-end of the year, I have unearthed Glazunov’s Symphony No. 1, the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and now Liszt’s Les préludes.