Andante lagrimoso

The Andante lagrimoso is the ninth of the ten Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses completed in Weimar in 1852 - a collection that was a favourite with Liszt himself in his later years but is now, except for the two indisputable masterpieces, Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude and Funérailles, largely neglected. It is true that some of the pieces do not represent Liszt at his best and there is also the possibility, as so often with Liszt in religious mode, that the more sentimental ones will prove difficult to take. In spite of its lachrymose title, however, this is not the case with the Andante lagrimoso.

Like most of the other pieces in the collection, the Andante lagrimoso is inspired by one of the poems published in the four volumes of Lamartine’s Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses in 1830. As the verses quoted at the top of the score suggest - “Tombez, larmes silencieuses, sur une terre sans pitié” (Fall, silent tears on pitiless ground) - the expression is more severe than sentimental. The limping main theme, as it appears in G sharp minor at the beginning, is quite stark by Liszt’s standards in harmonic and textural elaboration. Although it develops into a more expressive arioso and although it meets a consolatory episode in A flat major, it finds no comfort on its return to its original form and abruptly gives up hope.