Liszt : The Organ Works

CD Liszt : The Organ Works Olivier Vernet

Although Franz Liszt's organ music is still relatively unknown, the widely-differing genres it represents nevertheless include some genuine masterpieces. two of the works are on a grand scale: the variations on Ad nos, ad salutarem undam and the Prelude and Fugue on the name of BACH, as well as a third piano piece, transcribed by the composer for organ (Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen). However, there are many other pieces; some are original, if rather modest and reflect a different outlook: they are sometimes meditative, requiring little in the way of virtuosity. they seem to characterise the Franciscan spirit within him which emerged in later life. There are also a great many transcriptions, often of his own works, but sometimes of other composers such as Bach, Chopin and Wagner, often in several versions. All these later versions, reworkings and adaptations display a characteristic feature of the composer’s attitude to composition. to borrow a phrase from James Joyce, present-day composers sometimes refer to the gradual process of gestation as "work in progress". There are very few organ pieces that do not exist in other versions. it is interesting to note that the organ score is very often the last version in the cycle of transformation; it is the final stage in a process of what might be termed polyphonic distillation, in which the rarefied atmosphere and stylised language are entrusted to a single instrument.