Liszt: Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude (Hough, Korstick)
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Liszt’s Benediction of God in Solitude is a marvel: a tender, luminous testament to Liszt's underappreciated lyric abilities. For flat-out beauty few things match it. It’s also a masterclass in textural writing - just count at all the ways the main theme is decorated: An inner-voice arpeggio underneath a measured trill (right at the beginning); a semi-measured arpeggiated chord with emphasis on the lowest voice (m.86); a bigger semi-measured arpeggiation (m.105); crystalline 2-voice chains (m.156 - and from m.158, the shape actually borrows from the dominant-tonic-supertonic-mediant pattern of the melody’s first 4 notes); a straighforward LH rising/falling arpeggio (m.253) that gradually expands (m.272); and long strings of rippling RH wavelets (m.308). It’s entirely possible to hear these textures as lushly spiritual, but in all honesty I hear waves - which places this work in my head alongside Liszt’s other water-related masterworks (St Francis, Au bord d'une source, The Fountains of the Villa d’Este).
Structurally the Benediction is a kindo-of-rondo, with the main theme (refrain) getting a fair bit of development. It also contains an inspired moment (which Liszt was to replicate in the B minor Sonata) when a completely new theme (Andante semplice) enters in the midst of extensive and recapitulatory coda. The tonal layout of the work is very precise - each section’s tonality drops by a major 3rd, while the opening section in F# anticipates much of what is to come by prominently featuring D and Bb. And in the coda of the work, the 2nd and 3rd themes are stated in F#, thus resolving the tonal tension between the sections much as the recap in a sonata would.
00:00 - A section, in F#. Theme 1. A long, lyrical melody in two parts. Prominently features the key of D in its second half, then modulating into A# minor before entering darker, almost improvisatory territory (m.43).
03:16 - A’ section. Theme 1 developed, and gets a new, exultant tail (4:47) in Bb. Modulates back into F#, and we get a codetta heavily borrowing from the shape of m.9 in the LH, and from the melody’s first four notes in the RH.
06:40 - B section, in D (a key anticipated in the earlier section). Theme 2. A simple melody based around chains of falling thirds, harmonised fauxbourdon-style (note the preponderance on fourths in the RH). The only time the piece ventures into tragic territory comes at m.211 when we move into B min - before being gently steered back into D.
09:38 - C section, in Bb. Theme 3. The apparently new melody here subtly references the A section at m.47-49 (similarly melodic shape). Theme 3 is diminuted, before slipping into Db (m. 234, 10:26), and modulating through several keys to reach G min. Theme 3’s first phrase in then canonically treated starting from m.244, rising in tension to lead back into the
11:39 - A’’ section. Remarkable how a return to a simple treatment of Theme 1 - simple arpeggiated chords over simple arpeggios - suddenly sounds so moving. Builds slowly and inexorably into a massive climax.
13:27 - The codetta returns, this time with the RH spinning out a single delicate line of arpeggios. The shift into 3/2 time is nearly unnoticeable, but gives the melody a lot more breath.
[Coda]
14:37 - C’ section, in F#. Now transformed into something almost like a chorale. Moves into E (as it did earlier) and pauses in a repeated B, which gives way to
15:45 - Theme 4, in F#. A magical moment. Hard to say what exactly gives this melody its consoling, tender quality. The newness is part of it, certainly. But also the fact that this melody contrasts Theme 3 in its shape - descending stepwise to the tonic, rather than ascending - and the simplicity of the accompaniment.
16:26 - Theme 2, in F#. An unexpected recollection.
16:58 - Theme 3 is stated in B (implied by the E natural) and D Lydian (same harmonic progression as in the codetta!), before we get the final cadential 6/4. - Hudba
![Liszt: 3 Petrarch Sonnets [From Years of Pilgrimage: Italy], S.161 (Tiempo, Chamayou)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7K67MCQZgy0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Liszt: 3 Petrarch Sonnets [From Years of Pilgrimage: Italy], S.161 (Tiempo, Chamayou)](/img/tr.png)
00:00 - Hough
17:47 - Korstick
The two recordings here are (or should be!) landmarks in the Liszt discography. In brief, Hough is intimate and spontaneous, while Korstick is ecstatic (although I should stress - these are only qualities they have relative to each other; there’s lots of intimacy in the Korstick, and ecstasy in the Hough).
Both interpretations use a fair degree of rubato, but in quite different ways. Hough mostly deploys it on a sentence-by-sentence level; in the opening melody, for instance, he lingers on certain notes to create a feeling of tenderness (see also the gorgeous ascent at 11:46 (m.257). Korstick’s rubato, on the other hand, happens in large paragraphical chunks, and is primarily used to emphasise climaxes. At 21:47 (m.109) in the recapitulation, for instance, he starts a pretty big accelerando that plunges into the climax, which itself features a lot of agogic intensity. (See also the B section climax staring from 26:01 (m.209.)
Hough’s playing is full of textural detail and colour changes. At 10:26 (m.234) in the C section he adds in a sonorous low Db to emphasise the change in key, and at 14:24 (m.329) he lifts the pedal at the bottom of a big F#6 arpeggio to maintain the translucent quality of the run. These are both (marvellous) deviations from the score, but Hough also teases out stuff in Liszt’s writing that other pianists ignore. At 3:16 (m.86) he plays the RH not as a standard arpeggio, but as what Liszt wrote - a low melodic note, followed a semiquaver later by a separate, arpeggiated chord. And the best colour change in the whole work comes in the entrance of the Andante semplice at 15:45 (m.340). Everything about Hough’s playing - voicing, tempo, rubato - generates a feeling of such heartbreaking consolation.
It’d be (very) wrong to say Korstick ignores detail (overdotting in the B section!), but there’s definitely firmer hierarchisation of certain elements in the texture. For instance, the melodies are always projected very directly - in the beginning and at 26:51 (m.223) in the C section, the theme seems to float on top of nothing, in contrast to Hough’s more veiled manner. This focus extends to the lower voices too: see the descending bass notes at 19:27 (m.43) or the LH voice at 29:58 (m.293). And sometimes, Korstick’s focus is just on sheer, glorious volume: see 22:35 (m.140), or the rhetorically tripled voices at 22:08 (m.121), 29:51 (m.288).
Slightly unrelated but whats the most beautiful piece youve heard this month or even this year
And then whats the most relentless, driving piece youve heard this month
@Ashish - Did you listen to Claudio Arrau's recording when making your choice of Hough and Korstick. If you don't know it, Arrau's is extremely beautiful.
@@rupertaustin Yep it know it! It’s a nice recording but not as good as either of these. (And generally - not in reference to this work - I think Arrau is very overrated.)
@@AshishXiangyiKumar ~ you might find this video somewhat of an anathema then! czcams.com/video/oeV-UOU5UrY/video.html
The very best recordings! thanks!
I can’t believe this channel is free
art don’t have to be capitalized.
@@H1meno_ i know, but it almost always is
te mandan a espiar y moves la ramas !
the owner of this channel truly is providing a service by selecting these recordings and writing these descriptions. They had newspapers and critics in the time of Liszt, we have social media and channels like this now. I would absolutely donate
Owner of this channel gives us huge work for free
The first (main) theme is gorgeous, one of the best Liszt ever composed in my opinion.
My boi could really put together a melody when he wanted to. I mean, he didn't always want to, but when he did he _really_ knocked it outta the park.
I see you in every video of classical music man jesus christ
@@vanadium3004 he must be a man of culture then
@@mariosvourliotakis778 I concur
I see you in every piano video
Chopin is probably my favourite composer for piano, but honestly nothing he wrote comes close to making me feel like 15:45 does. Everything - structure(!), harmony, texture, melody - becomes so powerfully emotionally focused there, it feels like some kind of rebirth.
Ashish SLAMS Chopin
I'd say that particular melody is very Schumannesque. In fact the first four bars are identical to the second half of the Ghost Variations theme-although Liszt wrote this first. Striking coincidence though.
@mr.p5158 Well if we are basing it on how many videos of each composer he has uploaded, no 1 is beethoven (49 videos), close second is chopin (48 videos), then its liszt (28 videos) - with rachmaninoff as an honorable mention (27 videos)
@@calebhu6383 Exactly, its kind of reminiscent of schumann's widmung - Do u think this liszt piece is more transcendental than the 3rd mvmt of Schumann's fantasy?
To be fair, Chopin died a lot younger than Liszt, so he probably would have composed something similar if he lived longer, perhaps in a fifth ballade (I really like the thought of Chopin composing a fifth ballade).
One of Hough’s departures from the score that I adore is right at 13:21 - he keeps striking that top chord far past what’s written, as if he can’t get enough of it, and it sounds absolutely ecstatic.
If you look at the note written under the score at that moment, you'll find that this is actually what Liszt himself did in his performances of the piece ! Pretty incredible :)
@@ulysse__I just noticed that! That makes the effect all the more amazing
The coda of Scriabin 4 comes to mind
15:45 is my favorite moment in all of Liszt’s production
You can feel it
Gentle time is flowing
Ufffffffffffff yaaaaaaas :Q__
12:05 Love the texture here, the equanimity, the ascension.
Equanimity. What an incredible and fitting descriptor!
This is quite possibly the most beautiful, sublime piece Liszt wrote... what a masterpiece!
2:36 never fails to bring me to tears
Liszt sure does love f# major. This and the middle section of the sonata in b minor are both amazing pieces of music in the same key
and who can blame him, right?
Also the middle section of Dante Sonata
He also loves Ab Major.
also the spanish fantasy lol
12:18 - 13:32 this part is incredible 💔
The last three chords get me every time. So resolute, tragic, and triumphant at once. Amazing.
A new Ashish video, and one where we're graced by the inimitable Stephen Hough playing (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful, resplendent piano pieces??? My day has just become incredible! 💜🙌🏾 Thank you so much, for you have no clue how much this has brightened my day after how stressful work was! 😊😊
Hough really is wonderful, he makes this piece really shine, and you don’t hear all of the difficulty within some of the texturally complex sections. I mean just take the beginning in the right hand, the massive chords would be extremely awkward for anyone whose hands couldn’t stretch more than an 9th, and he just makes it seem so effortless and it becomes part of this dreamy soundscape he creates.
The theme from the B section is other worldly. Hearing it feels as if were suspended up in the sky, and I could see the clouds, the montain tops, the rivers and the trees below my feet, from this revelating, wholly new perspective. It brings me to an undescribable state of inner peace.
I tried sightreading this, the right hand during the A section is remarkably difficult to pull off correctly. Makes me appreciate these recordings even more.
I learned to play this piece 10 years ago and it amazed me how big Listz's hands are - the right hand in this one may not seem very hard but it definitely is 😂 I really regreted that I stopped practicing a few years ago and now it's even hard to pick it up...
Man I love Liszt's music, he's just one the greatest composer in my opinion.
YES! More of this channel!!! Flipping awesome, keep it up 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I so appreciate you showcasing this piece. It holds such a special place in my heart and always will.
This beautiful work could only arise from the tormented, conflicted soul of the composer. Hough's luminous account really speaks and conveys the profound poetry within these challenging pages.
Gorgeous. Great to see you back!
This first piece has to be one of the most beautiful pieces ever written for the piano. I grew up listening to the whole collection in the record player. My love for the piano was born 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡🎶🎹🎶
Wow, my favorite piece ever! Thank you so much 💓
This is the first time I hear this. I am speechless. Thank you for uploading this work of art unknown to me.
Love this piece so much. Currently learning it. God bless you.
the development of in the theme in 6:43 is truly gorgeous! really good
15:44 is so in place, and needless to say, very beautiful, of course.
If you read Alan Walker’s biography of Liszt, he discusses the way Liszt consistently used different keys for different themes. F# Major was a key for religious thoughts and religious ecstasy.
Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude is always played as a “watery” piece. This makes sense with the extensive arpeggiation along with the association with a later piece, “Jeux d’eau a La villa d’este”. Philip Thomson gives an excellent interpretation of Benediction for Naxos in this watery style I refer to.
What makes Hough’s interpretation so special, and so unique, is that he connects to Liszt’s religious inspiration. His arpeggiation is calm and ethereal - more like spiritual ether than water.
This is increadible beautiful, so transcendental, and the interpretation is really wonderful❤❤❤❤
Thanks for that👏👏👏👏
Overwhelmingly beautiful and a perfect interpretation.
Korstick is such an amazing liszt player, great to have you back again Ashish
Your channel and this video was the first time that I heard this peace. This is one of my favorite pieces for sheer beauty and just unbelievable heartfelt connection. This is definitely a high priority on my list of songs to learn. I'm not quite there yet but pieces like this are what is going to drive me there
I really love the return to A" section, it's like heaven.
My favorite piece!
Measures 26-27 (and every variation thereafter) are such a beautiful little modulation and very very Lisztian.
What a beautiful piece of music ❤
17:10 is proof that Liszt was the master of all Romantic era composer
Liszt could have expected cadenzas between those two bars in performances.
@@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji Bro You're a legend on CZcams, I'm actually honored to have received a comment of yours
@@pianobern69 thanks, but you don't have to admire me just for 'being everywhere' 😅
Thanks once again, but honestly I don't see how I'm a legend
@@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji You are blessed with a great musical taste and always spread a lot of positivity under even the most obscure classical videos here on CZcams. The community needs more people like you, that's why I consider you a legend
@@pianobern69 well, if that's the case, thank you, you, too, are a legend
My favorite Liszt piece.
The buildup from 28:23 to the return of the A theme is pretty spectacular. Particularly, Korstick really makes the two melodic voices sing. For instance, at 28:27, be brings out the final A natural in the LH phrase, and then when we modulate back to F#, he brings out the A#. I bring out the A# when I play this piece, but I've never thought about bringing out the A natural in the previous LH line.
Also, maybe I like this buildup so much because when I play it I usually start taking off at 28:34, which Korstick does as well.
A very very good interpretation of this magnificent work
HE’S BACK WITH A BANGER
I’m currently working on the Bénédiction and it’s a pure joy!
Slightly unrelated but whats the most beautiful piece youve heard this month or even this year
And then whats the most relentless, driving piece youve heard this month
@@supasayajinsongoku4464 most beautiful probably the 4th movement of the 1st Schumann sonata, most driving probably Prokofiev sonata 6 2nd movement (both this month)
Excellent choice of interpretations!
Mmm yes, the best Liszt piece. Thank you.
The best artist that ever lived!
Claudio Arrau also has a terrific recording that I suggest everybody check out!
You back 😀😀
The push from 10:04 to 10:15 is incredible, so soft but heavy, the weight at 10:15 blows me away
Beatiful piece!
Very beautiful voicing
It's gorgeous piano music.
Indeed.
I think Ashish's mention of the opening sounding like waves is appropriate, as the poem by Lamartine that inspired this masterpiece mentions water more than once. The first line is "D'où me vient, o mon Dieu, cette paix qui m'inonde?" ("From where comes, O God, this peace which floods over me"), and later on, several lines:
To me who, not long ago, uncertain, restless/And tossed on waves of doubt by every wind/Sought the good, the true, in the dreams of worldly sages/And peace in hearts resounding with tempests?
This is amazing a masterpiece of Liszt I dont like all the works of Liszt but here he excels i bow myself as a great respect
Very interesting. If I listened to this blindly I probably would have guessed that it was Rachmaninoff. Love the lyrical quality!
Большой музыкант определяется с первых звуков.... Спасибо за наслаждение!
The *Più sostenuto quasi preludio* is my favorite part. It sounds like a melody floating over calm waters.
Astounding piece, very distinct from the rest of Liszt oeuvre in my opinion. Wonderful channel too. Doubtlessly a new favourite! Is it just me or in 13:30 the melody is subtly similar to Beethoven's 6th Symphony, 2nd movement?
Ashish Xiangyi Kumar, you are very convincing and exquisite in the music offerings on your channel; and it is so comforting that now there are people on earth who are close to Liszt's music Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude, who enjoy different interpretations, hallelujah
Slightly unrelated but whats the most beautiful piece youve heard this month or even this year
And then whats the most relentless, driving piece youve heard this month
@@supasayajinsongoku4464 sorry, is this really important to you? I am from Kyiv, a Ukrainian city that is now regularly bombarded by missiles from the Russian Federation; the drive is off the charts - better than Liszt's Totentanz!; I think music that would convey all the complexity of my current experiences has not been created yet) I hope I understood you correctly... For me, the Liszt is always alive and one of the best: unconquered and unrestrained, tender and divinely inspired
This and Ballade 2 are the most underrated lizst pieces
Not sure they are that underrated, they are among his most recorded works (especially the Ballade).
ballade 2 is like top 6 most famous liszt pieces
@@nandovancreij not really
@@GUILLOM these are all the liszt works i can list that are possibly more famous than ballade 2
sonnetto 104
hr 2 + hr 6
sonata in b minor
la campanella
some TEs
liebestraum 2
mephisto waltz
un sospiro
(top 10 wouldve been better but u get the point)
@@nandovancreijprobably pag/liszt etude 6 too
Τέλεια!!
I always cry when listening to this piece... or should I say peace :') ?
3:19, beatiful!
True that is epic too...
it makes me feel things
To be honest (and display my ignorance), Liszt has never been one of my favorite composers, but this is incredibly beautiful.
That's all good, they don't have to be your favourite.
What happened to the 2nd beethoven sonata video of your's?
The remarkable interpretation by Claudio Arrau should also be noted here.
I'm usually a huge admirer of Arrau however, I have to say I find his account of this masterpiece rather ponderous and earthbound. To me, Stephen Hough's superb account really conveys the spectrum of emotions without losing the overall continuity of line.
Hough changes the D to an F in mm. 240?
10:50 Both pianists play an F instead of a D in the soprano! A misprint I assume?
The copy I have on my computer has that note as an F instead of a D
No, it is an intentional edit by the score editors of this edition and is detailed in their editorial notes. (Take a drink for everytime edit shows up.) The pianists are using a different edition.
@@thenotsookayguy I thank you for your edited response about the editorial freedoms of this edition, edited by the editors!
Oh shoot! This is only 1 movement but 2 recordings?!! I needa go check out the other movements, I know just the place. Here!!
13:23, epic part!
29:25 This place makes me feel sad and jubilant😭
wake up babe, another ashish xiangyi kumar video just dropped
Can someone tell me if this is for 4 hands?
It's for two hands
Korstick!
Mom wake up Ashish just posted a new video
what
Music by Franz Liszt, feat. title by Olivier Messiaen.
Lol
I refuse to believe this isn't the work of a time-traveling hybrid of Ravel and Debussy
Imagine if beethoven, liszt, or chopin were alive in a world full of You tube, digital photography, noisy cars and mobile phones, not forgetting tv and modern aircraft and remote controls. What would they produce. Hopefully future humans will have the technology to resurrect them, so they could compose even more sonatas and symphonies. Mozart, had he lived into his 70s, would have a mountain of music.
I notice some of the most greatest music Liszt wrote is in 'sharps' key, (the key I hate the most playing) LOL 😂😂😅😊❤❤❤
20:42
Another very good interpretation is this one:
czcams.com/video/jRsujXlVEOo/video.html
Quite unknown, but brilliant in its own right.
Reminds me of op 3 no 1 rach… sort of
I wonder what Leslie Howard makes of Hough’s Liszt interpretation.
Ask him lol
@@thenotsookayguy Leslie plays this, Totentanz, and Saens' Danse Macabre quite hastily
@@ghp4506 Well of course he did. He had to. He recorded all of Liszt's works. ;)
@@MartinVanBoven Is this an intentional misunderstanding of my comment? The recordings I have are very rushed and the beauty of the melodies is diminished because of it. He might have other better recordings but especially for a piece like this it would make more sense to ask other pianists what they thought of Leslie's Liszt interpretation, since most other recordings (at least of those three pieces) I've seen are preferable to his
benediction
20:59 youre welcome
Is there any expert in music?
I need some help........
What for ?
@@Dylonely42
Some times I want zo understand a thing and can't
11:38
.
28:49
12:00 Liszt is not known by his floral, effervescent masterworks. But he should be
Slightly unrelated but whats the most beautiful piece youve heard this month or even this year
And then whats the most relentless, driving piece youve heard this month
Edit:why would you like my comment WITHOUT GIVING ME THE PIECE?!?
@@supasayajinsongoku4464 lol
@@supasayajinsongoku4464This the most beautiful piece/s(Harmonies Poetiques et religiuses)I've heard this year and the most relentless piece would be prokofiev's concerto 2 especially the cadenza
@@VinceRicafort-xo9lu fair enough :(
1:48 mmm smorz
15:28
wonderful piece and playing by Hough, but maybe next time don't put 17 f&*$%&# ads in the video?
Tell CZcams that, Ashish has no control over CZcams's greed. If it were actually up to him, he wouldn't let a single dumbass advertisement interupt the music, but he can not do that since he does not own the copyright to the music in these videos.
When I don't have ad block on, I get bombarded tonnes of the most stupid commercials, and not once over the years I have been on this platform have I purchased a product from those losers. All those commercials do,
is waste my damn time. I've probably spent days in total, having my brain rot with that stupid shit, they have never enticed me to buy their shitty product ever.
Also, even on channels that can actually control their monetization, CZcams forces the creators to fill their content to the brim with ads, otherwise their videos will be held back by the algorithm and their hard work will not be seen by anyone.
I get multiple 15 second unskippable ads watching my own fucking videos, even ones that don't have any copyright claims, despite not even having enough subscribers to full fill the minimum monitization requirements.
I actually hate CZcams now, I mean, I love it but God damn the owners actually ruined it, the service is unbearable without Ad-block.
One thing I hate is that companies can not simply just make enough for each year, they need to make more, and more, and more, and more. I bet you in 2025 there'll be 50 ad breaks in this video, with all of them having 3, 30 second unskippable ads.
Bro double-crossed the devil💀
Those who once heard Claudio Arrau play this, will ask themselves: WHY don't other pianists simply and humbly abstain from fumbling with this? Compared to Arrau is eg this here version possibly the most pathetic and unbalanced would-be rubato mess I can imagine.
In the first interpretation seems like he wants to go pee because he's su rushed. Zero spirituality and no emphasis on accent, sounds very flat. The second interpretation sounds like playing a CASIO.
11:38