CLAUDIO ARRAU PLAYS LISZT'S DANTE SONATA - FINALLY COMPLETE!

Franz Liszt [1811-1886]

Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata
Claudio Arrau, piano
The piece is divided into two main subjects. The first, a chromatic theme in D minor, typifies the wailing of souls in Hell. D minor is a common key for music relating to death, as evidenced by Liszt's Totentanz and the statue scene of Wolfgang Mozart's Don Giovanni. The first theme also heavily uses the augmented 4th/diminished 5th Tritone; this interval was known as the Devil's interval [or devil in music] and further reinforces the hellish imagery. The second theme is a beatific chorale in F-sharp major, derived from the first, which represents the joy of those in Heaven. The key is also symbolic here, being the signature for other uplifting works of Liszt's, including Benediction of God in Solitude [part of Harmonies poétiques et religieuses] and Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este [Années de pèlerinage Vol. 3, No. 4]. The secondary theme may also represent Beatrice, as it is interspersed within chromatic areas, similar to the character's appearances in hell. The piece ends with a rapid chromatic octave section that when played at speed seems to split into three distinct themes, reflecting the three heads of Satan in Inferno [Dante]
[Wikipedia]
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