Années de pèlerinage II

Liszt’s second book of Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) for piano, subtitled “Italie” (“Italy”), was completed in 1849, five years before the first book, “Suisse” (“Switzerland”). Both collections were mostly revisions of earlier material, and the second book reached its final shape in this way before its companion. The first book had recalled Liszt’s time in Switzerland from 1835 to 1837, following his elopement from Paris with Marie, Countess d’Agoult; they next visited Italy, where they stayed until 1839. The second book’s beautiful opening piece, “Sposalizio” (“Marriage”), was inspired by The Marriage of the Virgin, a painting by the Renaissance artist Raphael, which Liszt and Marie saw in Milan. At the heart of the collection are solo piano arrangements of Liszt’s three song settings of sonnets by the 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch. And the culmination is the ultra-virtuosic “Dante Sonata”, a tumultuous portrayal of Hell as depicted in “Inferno”, the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy.