Evening guys, today I want to propose a listening session.... Les préludes, symphonic poem by Franz Liszt from 1856; the preface to the second edition states:
What else is our life, if not a series of preludes to that unknown hymn, whose first and solemn note is intoned by death? - Love is the luminous dawn of all existence: but what is the destiny for which the first delights and happiness are not interrupted by some storm, the mortal explosion that dissipates beautiful illusions, the fatal lightning bolt that consumes its altar, and where is the cruelly wounded soul, which, emerging from one of these storms, does not seek to rest its memory in the calm serenity of country life? However, man hardly dedicates himself for long to the enjoyment of the beneficial quiet that he initially shared in the bosom of nature, and when "the trumpet sounds the alarm", he rushes toward whatever dangerous place, whatever war calls him into its ranks, so as to finally recover in combat the full consciousness of himself and the possession of all his energy.
As a recording, I have chosen a recent one (2012) by the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Muti. Enjoy the listening.
