Because of Franz Liszt's commanding position in the music world during the mid and late nineteenth century, he was able to mold and popularize the compositions of other composers that he felt were worthy. He had a particular affection Schubert's music and this is reflected in his more than sixty transcriptions of Schubert's songs. Liszt played many of these works in his concert programs during his years as a traveling virtuoso. The works described here are from a collection of Schubert's songs appropriately entitled Schwanengesang (Swan Song) which was assembled and published posthumously by Tobias Haslinger in 1829. Liszt's empathy for the moods of Schubert's work is evident in these transcriptions as is his brilliant compositional style.

The third piece in this cycle is called Aufenthalt (Resting Place) and is in keeping with Schubert's preoccupation with romantic scenarios. The original song is a setting of a poem by Rellstab and tells of a deep sorrow over love lost. In his transcription, Liszt uses a throbbing chordal figure in the left hand to give the impression of a heart beating tragically under the melancholy melody. Both hands eventually share the melodic line and pass it back and forth between the upper and lower registers. Liszt adds a chromatic illustration of the mood in the middle of the work which echoes the intense emotion of the song's text. As the theme is reiterated, Liszt uses unison octaves in the upper register which give the feeling of desperation and then closes the work with a simpler statement, as if resignation to fate is all that is left.

The seventh transcription in this collection is also from a setting one of Rellstab's poems. Entitled Stänchen (Serenade), it is among the most familiar songs in the cycle. The story is of a young man, singing to his beloved. The lyrical melody is simply stated in the right hand with a pulsing chordal pattern supporting it in the bass line. Liszt varies the strophic repetition by shifting the melody to a lower octave to give it a cellolike sound. The final iteration is the most elaborate and, in performance of this work, Liszt often added an ad lib cadenza.

Next in the series is Ihr Bild (Her Picture) which is based on a poem by Heine and is sadly reflective in its telling of a love tragically lost. Simple and melancholy, Liszt's transcription omits the repeated notes that form the prelude of the original song and uses unison octaves to state the theme before elaborating it. Lovely and lyrical, the mood of this piece is exquisitely tragic.

The twelfth piece in this collection is entitled Der Doppelgänger (The Double). The text for the song is by Heine. The dark mood of this composition in defined by the four-bar prelude to the lower register. As the theme is doubled in octaves and the dramatic climax is reached, a tremolo adds a ghostly shiver to this brooding work that is reminiscent of The Mass of the Dead.

Liszt's brilliance as a transcriptionist as well as his deep empathy for Schubert's music is expertly showcased in this varied and lyrical cycle of works. Although some are more well-known than others, all of these pieces are exquisite examples of Liszt's unique compositional style.

© All Music Guide

6.In der Ferne

This is a piano transcription of Schubert's song from the cycle Schwanengesang. Liszt arranged this entire cycle, probably meant to be performed as a set, as well as many of Schubert's other songs. This particular transcription virtually duplicates the piano accompaniment with the vocal line added to the texture. There is little rearrangement of the original parts to bring out the main melodic line (as Liszt does in some of his other transcriptions) since it is easily playable as the top part of the accompaniment, and only a small amount of elaboration of the original piano part.

© Steven Coburn, All Music Guide

7.Ständchen

In the late 1830s, the ever-busy virtuoso Franz Liszt was involved in many projects as a composer, among which were transcriptions of numerous songs by Franz Schubert for solo piano. Most of them were done in large collections, such as the Lieder (12) (1838 - 1839), Winterreise (1839), and Schwanengesang (1838 - 1839), of which Ständchen, Leise flehen meine Lieder (Serenade: My Songs Beckon Softly), is the seventh of 12. This is a brilliant realization of one of Schubert's most touching and beautiful songs. The work opens with a familiar-sounding rhythmic figure that slowly progresses downward, leading some listeners to think the music will soon break into something similar to Schubert's famous Ave Maria. It does not, of course; moreover, the mood here is one of yearning, even of anguish, in the somber but lovely main theme. The song's text tells of a young lover calling out for his sweetheart to join him, hoping the "betrayer" has not poisoned her heart against him. Liszt deftly captures the painful emotions in this masterful song, making the powerful music seem perfectly suited to its keyboard incarnation here. Performances of this lovely work typically last seven minutes.

© All Music Guide