Franz Liszt
Schumann: Widmung
in A-flat Major, S . 566

ID: 901

Dedication

"Widmung" (Dedication), an intimate love song originally for voice and piano, appears here in a passionate piano arrangement by composer and virtuoso Franz Liszt. Employing many of his favorite pianistic devices, Liszt expands upon the original melody, finally reaching a rapturous climax with arpeggios cascading and ecstatic chords singing in unabashed triumph. Though highly virtuosic, the piece is much more than a mere showpiece, the technical fireworks serving to capture and enlarge the heartfelt passion of the original song.

Background

The original "Widmung" is part of Robert Schumann's song cycle Myrthen, Op 25, which he worked on in secret for months and finally offered as a wedding present "to his dear bride" Clara Wieck in 1840. Set to a text by German poet Friedrich Rückert, it captures the elated feelings Schumann must have felt when he was finally able to marry his beloved Clara after many painful years of opposition from her father. Liszt’s arrangement of the song was published in late 1848 under the title "Liebeslied" but was written possibly as early as 1846/1847. It is a prime example of Liszt’s penchant for promoting the music of colleagues he admired through creating arrangements and transcriptions, thus presenting it to a wider audience. Unfortunately, however, it seems Robert was possibly not too enamored with the arrangement, stating at one point: "[..] I am no fan of song transcriptions – and I really detest those by Liszt."

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