Franz Liszt.
How could I have mentioned the Masters - even Wagner - without
mentioning Franz Liszt.
A name that strikes fear in the heart of even the greatest of pianists - for
his music is among the most challenging ever - even making the rach 3
look like a finger exercise.
But what a Heart Liszt must have had. For only a few minutes ago I invited
him into my living room while I played the hauntingly beautiful parts of his
beloved Liebestraume - blowing off the difficult parts of course. : )
But even with mistakes - there is no mistaking the depth of the feeling that
comes from this Love Ballad. And only those like me - who have known
the heartbreak of Unrequited Love can truly play Liebestraume and do it
justice - without the hard parts of course.
When I used to be a piano teacher I had a student who broke my heart becasue
he could have been the quinessential concert pianist - he had all the right
ingredients - not to mention that he was extremely intelligent. I used to tell his
mother that I should be paying HIM to take lessons from me.
But alas - it was not to be. Instead - he is a budding composer - and I hope
we will hear more from him.
~~~
Liszt - according to Harold C. Schonberg in his book The Lives of the Great
Composers - established once and for all the genre of the bravura pianist -
coming out and and haughtily assulting the piano - shocking the 'purist'
musicians - who rarely lifted their fingers a few inches above the keyboard.
Oh to have seen this man perform - not to mention hearing the Master himself
play his own compositions.
Schonberg goes on to say that Franz Liszt was indeed an institution - even in
his old age - constantly surrounded by young pianists, composers, journalists,
sycophants (see below) and hangers-on.
In addition - Schonberg describes Liszt as although having white hair and a
'notable collection of warts' on his face - this could not dim the 'ardent lover'
in the great musician.
Furthermore - women remained attracted to this amazing composer and pianist -
and a scandal ensued when one of his pupils tried to shoot him - and subsequently
herself.
~~~
One only has to hear the stains of Liebestraume - aka love dreams - to realize the
passion that spewed forth from the beloved notes.
~~~
Franz Liszt - thank you for what you have given us - and on a personal note - me.
For although I can never do justice to your music technically - I can reproduce
the passion that you may have felt when you composed it.
and really - that is all that matters
for your music belongs to the ages now
and to all of us
sycophant - someone who hangs around a celebrity trying
to suck up to him but not really caring about him kinda like
stalking
12 comments:
:)
Why thank you Abso.
now read my f*ing post - will ya?
:)
I thank Goethe for the story... Liszt for the music. ;)
Oooops. Here's the English version. Sorry. :(
Abso - That was abso-lutely wonderful.
So cute and I loved the little lego men.
Surely it was put together by the Goethe Fan Club - of which Goethe would have approved.
Thank you for that.
De nada
'de nada'
speedy - that reminds me that i have yet to find my Rosetta Stone
so that i can continue my quest to not learn Spanish
:)
Can't you not learn it w/o the Stone?
-FJ - Good Point.
Quite Right.
But you see I am still getting my house in order and it would be nice just to sit there and let RS do the work.
Have you ever seen a Rosetta Stone
computer program, -FJ? They are really great. It cost $300 but is worth every penny. Not only totally educational but just plain fun.
The only reason that I am not speaking and writing Spanish after almost 4 years is due to my own laziness.
It is not the fault of the Stone.
I have tons of workbooks, Spanish dictionaries, even People mag. in Spanish. Sometimes I watch my movies with Spanish subtitles.
You name it - I've got it.
Now that I'm talking about it I think I'll get back to not learing Spanish.
:)
P.S. One of these days I expect to wake up and automatically start speaking Spanish.
:}
You will not learn it until you need to. Since you don't need to learn it, you don't.
I learned it because I needed to, and for no other reason.
Speedy - we'll see
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