In 1882, Liszt published a collection of twelve pieces entitled "Christmas tree", dedicating it to his nephew Daniel. As the composer wrote to Princess Carolyn Sayn-Wittgenstein, these songs meant to be "simple echoes" of "youthful emotions", with no special demands virtuosic compositional sophistication or sophisticated.
But, you know, Liszt is a sort of King Midas who turns to gold (sometimes too gold) almost everything. So even this Christmas anthology is a succession of delicious goodies where peeps around the colorful world of the author. There are flashes of virtuosity (6. Carillon), parentheses tenderness (7. Lullaby), moments of childlike joy in pure Schumann (5. Lighting the candles on the tree), solemn prayers to the tune of old traditional songs (such as Psallite of 1 or Adeste fideles leading the march of the Magi No.4). There is even the melancholy of days beyond (No. 10, once) and a fiery tribute to Hungary (No. 11, In Hungarian Style) and Poland (No. 1 in the Polish style), country, respectively, author and Princess Caroline, with whom years earlier Liszt had reached a pitch from the altar.
On YouTube you can find all the songs, performed by an interpreter of choice Liszt, Leslie Howard. Here I propose to listen to the No 3, "The shepherds at the manger, where a soft ostinato" ministry "will accompany the traditional In dulci jubilo : if you do not feel the ending is a delight, where Liszt - an image of unbridled piano virtuosity - manages to evoke the innocent wonder a crib with two notes on the cross!
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