The Linguist and Franz Liszt

Recently I have found myself to be extremely busy. It's not that I find myself with too much work that I am practically sinking under it, but, I find myself with work that are just too plentiful, to the point that I merely have a second to breathe after finishing one before I begin the next one.

Well, I shouldn't be surprised, since it is the start of Week 11 tomorrow. Which means that I have one-third of the semester left, before I wrap up my act together. The thing that is totally not surprising at all is the fact that I am already starting to deal with Spring semester, even before this current Fall semester hasn't ended yet.

So, for this Sunday afternoon, I decided to pay a visit to the Music Library and check out some compact discs for my enjoyment, while I am working here in my office. And I picked up a theme. Today will be a day devoted to Franz Liszt.

Even when I was still in my musical days, when I was practicing the piano seven days a week, I never touched a Liszt piece. No, I take that back. I remember practicing a certain piece from his Years of Pilgrimage album. I think it was the Canzonetto de Salvador Rosa, but I am not sure. I can't even remember it. The main reason is because Franz Liszt is known for composing very virtuoso pieces. And I wasn't in that level by then.

Franz Liszt produced a huge collection of works. For now, I borrowed his Annees de Pelerinage, his Hungarian Rhapsodies, and his transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies. Yes, the guy transcribed all 9 of Beethoven's symphonies for solo piano.

Well, if I cannot play them, then I'll do the next best thing. I'll listen to them.



(The huge stained glass rose, from my Basilica de Voto Nacional Series)