Liszt: Pater noster (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 5)

'Via Crucis' is probably one of Franz Liszt's boldest and most original works. Its musical inspiration, which ranges from Gregorian chant to Lutheran chorales, is here expressed in extremely modern harmonies that are at times Wagnerian. The programme is completed with Liszt piano pieces on a religious theme, played by Jean-Claude Pennetier: 'Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen' and 'Pater Noster', written after the death of Liszt's daughter Blandine, and plainchant from the liturgy of Holy Week, one of the major sources of inspiration for 'Via Crucis'.

Founded in 1996 the Estonian ensemble Vox Clamantis is conducted by Jaan-Eik Tulve.

This reissue (Calliope) is a modern Lisztian landmark, with one of the finest readings of his 'Poetic and Religious Harmonies'. Pascal Amoyel is one of the few pianists to have understood the importance of this essentially declamatory music.

"Liszt's cycle Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses has a special place in my repertoire. For years I've been studying it, watching it evolve, and continue to see it in a new light. And what child-like joy to rediscover works that one thought one knew well!

When I listen now to this recording made in 2007, I realize that an album is a snapshot of a precise moment and that this moment is itself already the benchmark of what one used to be and what one will become. Let's go even further: it's probably because it's "only" a snapshot that it's an authentic version. The present reissue recreates this type of fragility, a unique ephemeral moment of the creative act caught forever". Pascal Amoyel (June 2011)

On a new Hybrid SACD the celebrated American pianist Martin Berkofsky performs a fascinating selection of works for solo piano by Franz Liszt including the Étude d’exécution transcendante Nos. 7 and 11, the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12, and the Pater Noster from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses S 173.

The pianist Martin Berkofsky was born in 1943 in Washington, D.C. but is of Belarussian ancestry. He is known primarily for his interpretations of the music of Franz Liszt and Alan Hovhaness, and has performed extensively throughout Europe as well as in Turkey and Armenia. In 1971 he met the composer Alan Hovhaness when he performed one of the composer's works, and many Hovhaness performances followed. Hovhaness gave many newly-composed and unrecorded scores to Berkofsky who over the next decades recorded a number of discs of his music. He has made numerous recordings for major labels including Sanctuary/Black Box, Koch International, Crystal, Vox, Nimbus, and Angel.

As a performer Martin Berkofsky feels particularly at ease with the poetic world of Liszt. For him playing Liszt is almost an experience of mystic contemplation. The numerous, often radical changes that he makes to the original text should therefore be seen in this light since what counts most for him is not the notes in themselves, but the space that lies between them.

Zig-Zag Territoires begins its collaboration with the pianist François-Frédéric Guy, ‘an exceptional artist’ (Le Figaro, 2008), with two prestigious projects: the complete Beethoven piano sonatas recorded live at the Arsenal in Metz between December 2010 and December 2012, and a Liszt double album featuring two of that composer’s key works: the Sonata in B minor and the complete cycle of Harmonies poétiques et religieuses.

Zig-Zag Territoires wishes to accompany the development of this artist who first attracted attention with a ‘titanic “Hammerklavier” . . . [in which] we are in heaven’ (Le Monde, 1998), and has since marked his territory by ‘tackling the Everests of the repertoire’ (Libération, 2004): Brahms’s Second Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Paavo Berglund (Naïve, 2004), followed by the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Philippe Jordan and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Naïve, 2008-10).

François-Frédéric Guy regularly performs the cycle of Harmonies poétiques et religieuses in concert, either as a solo recital or alongside the actress Marie-Christine Barrault who recites the Lamartine poems that inspired the composer.

We decided to record these masterpieces in the studio of La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland), renowned for its exceptional acoustics. With the aim of reproducing the spontaneity of concert conditions, François-Frédéric Guy recorded the entire double album in just four days.

‘Recording the Harmonies Poétiques et religieuses represents a important moment in my artistic and discographic career, since Liszt is one of my favourite composers. It is certainly one of the finest cycles in the piano literature, made up of musical settings of the poems of Lamartine that combine grandiose inspiration and intimate meditation. As for the Sonata in B minor, in my view it constitutes the peak of the composer’s output and is still the only piano work that can follow on from Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier”.’ François-Frédéric Guy

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Liszt’s birth, this new format title (2 CDs + 50,000 word biography) explores the fascinating world of LIZST: HIS LIFE AND MUSIC.

Perhaps the greatest pianist who has ever lived, Liszt was one of the titanic musical figures of the Romantic age. Abandoning his spectacular career as a travelling virtuoso in his mid-thirties, this passionate lover and fond father dedicated himself instead to a life of composing, conducting, teaching and, increasingly, religious devotion, eventually taking minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church. This biography explores an enthralling life lived for long periods in France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the composer’s native Hungary – a kaleidoscope of cultural worlds whose folk music, literature and landscapes richly coloured Liszt’s own music.

The 2 CDs feature music spanning Liszt’s career, and the free website www.naxosaudiobooks/lisztlifeandmusic offers hours of extra music and other bonus material.

Along with the Années de Pèlerinage, the Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses is the most important cycle Liszt composed for the piano. It reveals his mystical dimension, at once poetic and religious, through reference to the universal poetry of Lamartine.

Liszt transposes his verse into music that is glorious yet intimate, tormented yet soothing, served here by the humanist vision of Brigitte Engerer.