Notes for: July 12, 2011
In 1881, Liszt published this piece simultaneously in four versions – for piano solo, violin and piano, viola and piano, and cello and piano. The viola and piano version, which we hear tonight, was the original format as explained in the following note from the publisher:
“A few years before his death Liszt was staying as a guest of Cardinal Hohenlohe’s at the Villa d’Este at Tivoli near Rome. Here the Master was sent, by the music-dealer Simon of Hanover, a leaf taken from an album on which was a piece of music written in Liszt’s hand in his youthful years, with a request to be allowed to publish it. The reply to this request was Liszt’s paraphrase of the album-leaf in the form of the composition which he entitled “Romance Oubliée”, written for Viola alta [that is, a super-sized viola] and dedicated to the viola virtuoso Hermann Ritter.”
Ritter gave many performances of the piece, and arranged for its publication for the traditional viola. The result is a showcase for the viola’s dynamic and emotional range with the piano mainly in accompaniment. The viola begins the piece alone, dominates the texture, and builds it to a passionate climax. At the end, Ritter adds an extended passage of repeated arpeggios echoing Liszt’s arrangement for viola and piano in Berlioz’s Harold in Italy.