Franz Liszt - Faribolo Pastour et la Chanson du Béarn, (Csabay)

0:00 - Faribolo pastour – Chanson tirée du poème de Françonetto de Jasmin, 4:53 - Chanson du Béarn, Faribolo pastour (‘Pastoral Whimsy’) is the title of a song by Jacques Jasmin (1798–1864) who wrote the dialect poem Françouneto in 1840 and may have invented the melody himself or else adapted it from a folk song. Liszt met Jasmin whilst touring at Agen in September 1844 and improvised upon Jasmin’s romance. Jasmin returned the compliment with an improvised poem which was later published with a dedication to Liszt. The Chanson du Béarn is a Béarnaise folk song ‘La haût sus las mountagnes’ (‘High up on the mountains’). On the first page of the music, the title is given as ‘Pastorale du Béarn’. (Both works were reprinted by the British Liszt Society in their 1991 Journal.) The first, a ballad with the most wistful harmonization, is treated to variations in the manner of many of Liszt’s song transcriptions, and the second is given just one variation, with an optional coda—full of tremolos and new harmony—which is much too good to be omitted. (Howard) Pf: Domonkos Csabay