FRANZ LISZT : Weihnachtsbaum & Via Crucis (Leslie Howard) (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Although all of the pieces recorded here come from Liszt’s later period, and whilst most of them use the piano in a very restrained way, there could scarcely be a greater contrast in atmosphere between the Christmas Tree suite and the sombre Stations of the Cross. Of course there is the obvious contrast between the birth and the death of Jesus, but Liszt moves to the extremes of musical expression between almost secular lighthearted gaiety in some of the Christmas pieces to a relentless sense of horror and distress in the Passiontide pieces.
The Christmas Tree suite occupied Liszt for quite some time—he was determined to make an especially good job of it to present to his granddaughter Daniela (daughter of Hans von Bülow and Cosima) to whom the set is dedicated—and he also made a charming arrangement of it for piano duet. The bulk of the work was carried out between 1874 and 1876, although Liszt kept touching the pieces up until the time of publication. The first four numbers are marked ‘piano ossia armonium’, and are nowadays additionally included with Liszt’s organ music. The whole work is arranged in three groups of four pieces which, broadly, present traditional carol melodies, a child’s view of Christmas, and a maturer person’s recollections.
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