Lars David Kellner - Franz Liszt: Harmonium Works Vol. 3 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

As far as Franz Liszt's compositional output for keyboard instruments is concerned, the virtuoso pianist and later cleric not only considered the piano, but also the organ: in addition to some smaller pieces, a handful of quite larger works exist specifically written for the church organ. A significant number of his late sacred compositions, however, are not conceived for only one particular keyboard instrument, but ‘works‘ - following Liszt's explicit indications - on various instruments: piano, organ or harmonium. These pieces must also be taken into account if one wants to fully penetrate the oeuvre of the master as an interpreter.

By systematically surveying the published complete recordings of Liszt's ‘organ works‘, it becomes clear that this very term is unfortunately understood in a one-sided - because all too literal - manner, since the performance of these pieces takes place without exception on the organ. A recording of all works that were written exclusively or alternatively for harmonium solo is not yet available. This production is intended to fill a remarkable gap and may restore the harmonium to its status as a fully-fledged keyboard instrument in the composer's sense.

As an instrumental soloist, the harmonium is an instrument that combines the tonal and technical advantages of piano and organ in a convincing manner: dynamic variability is accompanied by a sustained tone. Franz Liszt, too, will have been aware of these advantages when composing and playing the Via Crucis on his harmonium, when it was a matter of spanning slurs of epic length, of letting melodies first grow and then die away again - in the sense of a true ‘smorzando‘. Seen in this light, the harmonium is probably the instrumental means of first choice for the majority of Liszt's sacred late works for keyboard instruments.

Tracklist:
1. Via Crucis, S. 669b: Vexilla Regis (04:13)
2. Via Crucis, S. 669b: I. Jésus est condamné à mort (01:24)
3. Via Crucis, S. 669b: II. Jésus est chargé de la Croix (02:31)
4. Via Crucis, S. 669b: III. Jésus tombe pour la première fois (01:55)
5. Via Crucis, S. 669b: IV. Jésus rencontre sa très sainte Mère (02:35)
6. Via Crucis, S. 669b: V. Simon le Cyrénéen aide Jésus à porter sa Croix (02:41)
7. Via Crucis, S. 669b: VI. Sancta Veronica (02:41)
8. Via Crucis, S. 669b: VII. Jésus tombe pour la seconde fois (01:58)
9. Via Crucis, S. 669b: VIII. Les Femmes de Jérusalem (02:41)
10. Via Crucis, S. 669b: IX. Jésus tombe une troisième fois (01:52)
11. Via Crucis, S. 669b: X. Jésus est dépouillé de ses vêtements (02:20)
12. Via Crucis, S. 669b: XI. Jésus est attaché à la Croix (00:53)
13. Via Crucis, S. 669b: XII. Jésus meurt sur la Croix (07:11)
14. Via Crucis, S. 669b: XIII. Jésus est déposé de la Croix (04:13)
15. Via Crucis, S. 669b: XIV. Jésus est mis dans le sépulcre (05:36)


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