Total timing 75.35
Rubato
Liszt was at pains in his masterclasses to emphasise freedom of expression in the
performance of his own piano works. He parodied the steady beat of the Leipzig
conservatories and the Clara Schumann school, and often asked his pupils to express in
their performances a scene from nature, an historical incident, an emotion, an idea.
Liszt pupil Carl Lachmund reported on a masterclass given by Liszt at Weimar on 2 May
1882 concerning liberty in tempo:
‘Fraulein Anna Konpacka, a Polish girl in her early ‘teens, now attempted the Master’s
great E flat Concerto. He enlightened the young pupil as to liberties that should be taken
in the tempo, thus adding much to the meaning of the melodic phrases, and spiced his
remarks with a few jokes at the expense of the orthodox fogies who would term such
liberties as playing without time.’
Lachmund similarly reported on a masterclass on 12 May 1882 and explained the
difference between the Chopin rubato and the Liszt rubato:
‘The next to play was Fraulein Anna Spierling: it was the Master’s own Consolation no.
6 in E major. This beautiful piece is more characteristic of his style than the better
known Consolation in D flat major - which, by the way, is more like a modernized Field
nocturne. It was an important part of this lesson for it gave us an insight into the Liszt
rubato which, be it said, is quite different from the Chopin hastening and tarrying rubato.
‘The Liszt rubato is more like a momentary halting of the time by a slight pause here or
there on some significant note and when done rightly brings out the phrasing in a way
that is declamatory and remarkably convincing. In playing this, Liszt seemed unmindful
of time, and yet the aesthetic symmetry of rhythm did not seem disturbed. Never before,
nor even to the present time, have I heard any other pianist phrase in the way Liszt did; so
convincingly, so enchantingly, that it seemed to hypnotize one.
‘In this Consolation he played every note of the melody as if it were a significant poetic
word, which effect was heightened in that he used the thumb for each one of these notes,
and dropping his hand in a languid manner as he did this. He would slightly dwell here
and there on a note as if entranced and then resume the motion without leaving a feeling
that the time had been disturbed. I do not recall the particular measures in which he did
this; but even then I felt that he might do it in a different place each time he played the
piece.’
Liszt Sonata forerunners
At Weimar Liszt wrote, or completed, a number of significant piano works, including two
piano concertos, which were forerunners to his Sonata in B minor: