Franz Liszt, The European Wanderer

Few Hungarian composers are as world-famous as Franz Liszt, whose popularity has endured unbroken for centuries. One of Franz Liszt's unique works, The Four Elements (Les Quatre Éléments) was first performed and recorded by the Honvéd Male Choir in 1996. The creation had not yet appeared in print, as the version orchestrated by the enthusiastic disciple of Liszt, August Conradi was not signed by the master, and was not considered by publishers to be accepted by the composer. Interestingly, the opus can be seen as a prequel to one of Liszt's most popular symphonic poems, "Les préludes". Liszt intended this composition for orchestra, but he never completed the orchestration. In addition to the virtuoso piano piece of The Four Elements, it remained a true vocal curiosity, a combination of a piano concerto and vocal music. There is endless power and creativity in the rarely heard secular works performed alongside The Four Elements. The program is musically very rich and varied, although the full choir is only required to be accompanied by a pianist of outstanding ability.

Program: The Four Elements  •   Le Forgeron  •  To The Artists  •  Titan  •  Hungaria

Duration: 80 minutes, in two parts