Lecture by Steven Cassedy

Liszt’s Peculiar Religion

Franz Liszt had a long and tortured relationship with religion, specifically Roman Catholicism, starting in his youth and lasting through old age. Many of his compositions bear titles that show the strength of his preoccupation; Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses, Années de Pèlerinage, to name just two. Liszt had his own musical language for the religious impulse, something expressed in his very choice of keys, harmonies, and other musical features.