Franz Liszt - 2 Church Hymns, S.669

Hungarian composer Franz Liszt’s 2 Church Hymns [“Zwei Kirchenhymnen”] are a compiled pair of organ pieces from his late period, inspired by medieval Marian hymns. The first, “Salve Regina” [Latin for “Hail Queen”], was a late work from 1877 and the second, “Ave Maris Stella” [Latin for “Hail, Stars of the Sea”], from 1868. The second one, “Ave Maris Stella” is an arrangement of an earlier version from between 1864 and 1868 for mixed chorus and organ.

Franz Liszt was once a young man whose music was once as flamboyant as the life he lived. Tall, dashing, handsome, musical, and the star of the Lisztomania phenomenon, Liszt was the object of lust by women of the age, and not just women, high-born noblewomen often discarded the proprieties of their class and threw themselves at his commoner-born feet. He “earned his manhood” from the young and beautiful Countess Caroline de Saint-Cricq in an 1828 affair. He, with Marie Pleyel (the same one who left Hector Berlioz, creating the catalyst for his “Symphonie Fantastique”), committed sacrilege within the sheets of Chopin’s own bed, to the chagrin of the other composer-pianist. A relationship with Countess Marie d'Agoult led to the conception of his children, including Cosima Wagner née Liszt, the wife of Richard Wagner. Following this, he had other relationships with Lola Montez (Countess of Landsfeld), Countess Bettina von Arnim, Charlotte von Hagen, Caroline Unger, Princess Cristina Belgiojoso, Rosalie Spohr (Countess of Sauerma and Louis Spohr’s niece), Marie Duplessis, and many, many, more. The Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein left her husband in a failed attempt to marry Liszt, but even this did not succeed in taming him.

Little would the Liszt of those days anticipate that he would eventually settle down as a Bride of Christ, married to God. The sorrow of losing his adult son and daughter, Daniel and Blandine respectively, in addition to the compounding fatigue of middle and old age, drove him to a period of introspection, and led to him deciding once and for all to abandon his life of sin and take monastic orders in 1865. He was inducted by Gustav Adolf, Cardinal Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, who was the very person who prevented Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein’s divorce and thus foiled Liszt’s marriage plans, but who nonetheless later reconciled with the pianist. Abbé Liszt faithfully served the Church from then on unto his death as a porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte.

During this final period of his life, Liszt composed the 2 Church Hymns. Sparse and austere, the 2 Church Hymns are a testament of his devotion to the Virgin Mary. In those works, Liszt ambiguates the tonality somewhat, and also accentuates his counterpoint technique (more so in “Salve Regina” than in “Ave Maris Stella”). His long-standing interest in modes becomes apparent especially in “Salve Regina”. But most typical of all late Liszt, there are many instances in both pieces where the passages fall into monody, and then complete silence.
Date: 1877
Catalogue:
Searle 669
Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Franz Liszts [LW] E27
R**be 394

Order:
No. 1 - Salve Regina: 0:08
No. 2 - Ave Maris Stella: 7:15

Performer: Lars David Kellner on harmonium [scored for organ]
Performer’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LarsDavidKellner
Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are used for non-commercial purposes.

Видео Franz Liszt - 2 Church Hymns, S.669 канала SoupyMold