Franz Liszt ‒ La lugubre gondola, I & II, S200

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886), La lugubre gondola S200 (1882/1885) Performed by Arnaldo Cohen 00:00 - No. 1 La lugubre gondola I S200/1 05:00 - No. 2 La lugubre gondola II S200/2 There are four pieces associated with the death of Wagner, the contemporary composer whom Liszt admired above all others, despite the sometimes serious difficulties in their personal relationship. Liszt stayed with Wagner at the Palazzo Vendramin on the Grand Canal at the end of 1882, where he had a premonition that Wagner would die in Venice, and that, therefore, his body would be carried by a funeral gondola. The music which he wrote (La lugubre gondola is usually the preferred title) is a transformation of the shape of a barcarolle, with harmony so original that the sense of tragedy is exceptionally desolate. Liszt later revised and extended the work, altering the metre from 6/8 to 4/4, without losing either the rocking of the boat or the plainting of the melodic line, but the second version is painted in more