Written on the last empty page of the manuscript of Salve regina, Franz Liszt's Resignazione is often listed among his organ works since Salve regina was composed for organ and no instrument is indicated on the page containing this work. Most musicologists, however, maintain that it is clearly written for piano since there are passages that would not make sense if played on the organ. Never published in his lifetime, Liszt's manuscript of Resignazione rests in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A brief work, slightly more than a minute in duration, this experimental composition has a pensive mood which is expressed in a straightforward chordal fashion. While most of the work is written in straightforward four-bar phrases, the last four measures are of particular interest. At that point the melodic line seems to unravel and the piece seems to float into the ether,offering an interesting look at one of Liszt's compositional experiments with the various effects of silence.



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