Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews
As a teenage pianist entering the Bedford Festival back in the early 1980’s, I was told that I “didn’t have the right touch for Chopin”, a misty and slightly absurd put-down that somehow embedded its way into my psyche. My young mind decided that perhaps I should switch allegiance to Liszt, whose epic Sonata in B minor was already on my bucket list (where it remains).
Having already enjoyed the ever-lovely D flat major Consolation, I tried my hand at the somewhat absurd St.François de Paulo marchant sur les flots, which quickly established itself as my party piece (and with which I exacted my revenge), before turning my attentions to Liszt’s seminal (if still underrated) cycle, the Années de pèlerinage.
Edition Peters were my go-to publisher for this music, and their edition by the great Liszt student Emil Von Sauer seemed as authoritative as they came. My fixation with Liszt gave way to a fascination with the French Baroque long before I had learnt most of these variously eloquent and virtuosic pieces, but Sauer’s single volume tome has seen plenty of abuse over the years, finally becoming ripe for replacement.
How brilliant to find that Edition Peters have brought out a brand new critical performing edition of all three volumes of the Années de pèlerinage, this time edited by Leslie Howard, a towering authority whose deep knowledge and advocacy of this repertoire has extended to recording a definitive set of Liszt’s complete piano works across 99 compact discs.
Whether you have an older edition or not, this new one in three volumes and with additional pieces more than lives up to expectations…
Années de pèlerinage
Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) appeared in three albums of music, in 1855, 1858 and 1883 respectively.
Compiled after Liszt had settled in Weimar and turned his focus to composition, the Première Année – Suisse, reintroduced music Liszt had previously included in his Album d’un voyageur, composed in the 1830’s when he was travelling throughout Europe with Marie d’Agoult.
These are by turn passionate and lyrical, picturesque pieces that vary considerably in style and mood, evoking vivid scenes, struggles, and impressions. These are also undeniably audience-friendly pieces, and I have long been surprised that they aren’t universally known.
For his new edition, Howard has also included the Trois Morceaux suisses, paraphrases on Swiss pastoral songs drawn from the original Album d’un voyageur, which he also included on his Hyperion CD recording of the Premiére Année.
The full content is as follows:
Années de pèlerinage • Première Année – Suisse (S160)
I. Chapelle de Guillaume Tell
II. Au lac de Wallenstadt
III. Pastorale
IV. Au bord d’une source
V. Orage
VI. Vallée d’Obermann
VII. Eglogue
VIII. Le mal du pays (Heimweh)
IX. Les cloches de Genève – Nocturne
Trois Morceaux suisses (S156b)
I. Ranz-des-vashes
II. Un soir dans la montagne – Nocturne
III. Ranz-des-chèvres – Rondeau
For the Deuxième Année, Liszt’s attention turned to his experiences of travelling in Italy, and as Howard explains,
“The important difference between the first and second year of the Années lies in the source of inspiration: although various literary references lie in the background to the Swiss volume, the principal imaginative spring is the landscape of Switzerland itself; the second Année draws entirely upon Italian art and literature.”
Indeed, there’s a serious, almost portentous intent to these pieces, in marked contrast to the vivacious variety of the previous collection. Liszt again turned back to his Album d’un voyageur for material, this time only selecting the Tre sonetti di Petrarca (beloved of diploma students), filling the collection with previously sketched pieces from the 1830’s and 40’s, and culminating with the dramatic intensity of the Dante sonata.
Liszt soon followed this collection with a supplement offering three lighter works. Venezia e Napoli is included in Howard’s new edition too, further adding to this volume’s already considerable appeal:
Années de pèlerinage • Deuxième Année – Italie (S161)
I. Sposalizio
II. Il penseroso
III. Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa
IV. Sonetto 47 del Petrarca
V. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
VI. Sonetto 123 del Patrarca
VII. Après une lecture de Dante – Fantasia quasi Sonata
Venezia e Napoli (S162)
I. Gondoliera
II. Canzone
III. Tarantella
The music of the Troisième Année, in common with Liszt’s late piano works, is more introspective, spiritually profound, rooted in poetry and philosophy.
As Howard explains,
“Liszt’s late piano works are of a character not met elsewhere in the great music literature of the nineteenth century. The thinning out of the style, almost to the point of deliberate barrenness, and the simultaneous impression of avant-garde pioneering and the reflection in solitude, even loneliness, that comes with age are particular to Liszt. The uncompromising nature of much of this music led to its instant neglect and, in many cases, its lack of publication until well into the twentieth century, when its importance and innate beauty were finally understood.”
These pieces, though I have enjoyed them in recordings, are (with the exception of the popular and prescient Les jeux d’faux à le Villa d’Este) new to me in print, having not appeared in my venerable Sauer volume. And honestly, what incredible treasures they are!
For this edition, Howard couples them with the Trois Odes funèbres, composed between 1860-66 and existing in a variety of versions, which form a musical and spiritual bridge between the earlier Années and the third volume.
These are intensely personal pieces; in particular, the first was prompted by the death of the composer’s only son Daniel at the age of twenty, the second by that of his elder daughter Blandine shortly after childbirth. The third is ostensibly a depiction of the funeral of the Italian poet Tasso in 1595, although Howard speculates that the piece can be seen as a self-portrait as much as a homage to Tasso.
The full content of the third Edition Peters volume is thus:
Années de pèlerinage • Troisième Année – Italie (S163)
I. Angélus ! Prière aux anges gardiens
II. Aux cyprès de la Villa d’Este – Thrènodie (I)
III. Aux cyprès de la Villa d’Este – Thrènodie (II)
IV. Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este
V. Sunt lacrymæ rerum (en mode hongrois)
VI. Marche funèbre (en mémoire de Maximilien I)
VII. Sursum corda (Erhebet eure Herzen)
Trois Odes funèbres
I. Les morts (S516)
II. La notte (S516a)
III. Le triomphe funèbre du Tasse (S517)
The Edition
Edition Peters publications have a significant and esteemed heritage, but the publisher has in my view further raised the bar in recent years with superb and pioneering editions of Chopin, Bach and Henselt in particular. Howard’s Liszt editions certainly and easily belong in this elevated echelon.
Each of the three volumes begins with an erudite introduction in which Howard not only outlines the (often complicated) compositional evolution and publishing history of these works, but also offers insightful background information about each of the pieces.
Digging deeper, the critical commentary in each volume is exemplary, and will surely more than satisfy the most astute academic. And each volume is adorned with the images of the original artworks accompanying the first editions, which is a superb and genuinely evocative bonus.
The scores themselves are beautiful engraved and spaciously presented, and appear as expected on cream paper. Interestingly, the music font size is larger than one might expect for virtuoso concert music, perhaps a reflection of the growing recognition that generosity of presentation is a huge asset.
Closing Thoughts
Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage ranks as one of the truly essential piano collections of all time, a milestone in the development of Liszt’s art, and hence in the repertoire of any serious pianist.
Leslie Howard’s editions offer indispensable insight, and gorgeously presented, authoritative scores of these pieces; students and performers will equally consider these volumes an absolutely essential purchase.
Other editions inevitably and quite rightly exist, but I think these volumes are the ones to own. What else can be said? This music, and these editions, really are the pinnacle of pianistic achievement.
Pianodao Music Club members receive 15% discount from Sheet Music Plus.
Musicroom has now joined Sheet Music Plus.
Retail links are currently being updated. Thank you for your patience.
Pianodao offers over 700 articles and reviews that are FREE to access.
If you appreciate this content, please support and follow the site here:
