Liebestraum #1

Yes, I have already made a Liebestraum post, but I failed to mention in the title that it was the third Liebestraum. I have changed that now, but eventually, someone will be confused that I played the third piece in the series before the first one. (This was most likely because I heard it before the other two.)

If you have heard that piece, or if you saw me last month finding flour in Budapest, you also know who we are talking about today. Before someone suggests that I rename my site Tea with a Lisztian (TwL), I have a good reason to bring the famous pianist back.

I just discovered that Franz Liszt played this piece at his last-ever performance, just two weeks before the fateful day of July 31, 1886.

137 years ago. (Sometimes I don't appreciate the force of how long that is.)

Listen to the song here
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La Campanella

If you looked down, you would see "the greatest pianist of this or any other century," as one of his students called him. Known for hundreds of years now, he is still looked up to as one unlike anything else we've ever seen. Merely looking at him strikes fear into the hearts of pianists (but apparently not music researchers). So, this time only, I hope you have never played a piano, or this will remind you of your inferiority to him all over again.

(I do have a recording. I just moved it down so viewers on my home page will have to click the button first.)

I hope you're ready for it.

Liebestraum #3 (Love Dream)

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song by Franz Liszt called "Liebestraum," or "Dreams of Love." It's part of a collection of three songs that he wrote, but this one is the most popular. There's a theory that Liszt wrote this song when his fellow composer Frederic Chopin passed away, in memory of him. The poem that this song was based on reminds us to take advantage of every opportunity to show love, before the people we had relationships with are gone, never to be seen again. I hope you like listening to this song!


Listen to the song here
(Can't see an audio player? It might not work if you're viewing this in an email client. If you are on teawithliya.blogspot.ca, you may need to try a different browser.)