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Total duration: 69' 30"
Liszt’s Harmonies poétiques et religieuses exist in various versions and stages. For a more detailed discussion, see the relevant volume of the New Liszt Edition (Suppl. 6; Z. A/B 14504).
In 1834, Liszt wrote a single piece called Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (S. 154; LW A18; R. 13), which was published soon after.
In the years following, Liszt explored extending this work to a cycle. He left many related drafts, including Prière d’un enfant à son réveil (S. 171c), Litanies de Marie (S. 171e), and, as a sequence of eight pieces in the so-called Tasso sketchbook, Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (S. 171d).
In 1847 and 1848, Liszt re-visited the concept and prepared a draft called Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (S. 172a; LW A61); eleven movements are still extant. He further revised this to create a final version (S. 173; LW A158; R. 14) that was published in 1853.
The below table gives a summary of the relationships between the works.
| S. 173/ | S. 172a/ | S. 171d/ | S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | – | – |
| – | 2–3 | – | – |
| – | 4 | – | 171e |
| 8 | 5 | – | – |
| 5 | 6 | – | – |
| 6 | 7 | – | 171c |
| 4 | 8 | – | 154 |
| 9 | 9 | – | – |
| – | 10 | – | – |
| 3 | 11 | 1 | – |
| 2 | – | – | – |
| 7 | – | – | – |
| 10 | – | – | – |
| – | – | 2–3 | – |
| – | – | 4 | 170, 189a |
| – | – | 5–6 | – |
| – | – | 7 | 192/1, 540a, 541/2 |
| – | – | 8 | – |
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 7'
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 3
Duration: 13' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Despite the title, Miserere (d’après Palestrina) (S. 172a/5 and 173/8) is not based on a true work by Palestrina.
Duration: 2'
Difficulty: 3
The Pater noster (S. 172a/6 and S. 173/5) also exists in a version for choir (S. 21; LW J3; R. 518).
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 2.5
Prière d’un enfant à son réveil (S. 171c) and its revisions, Hymne de l’enfant à son réveil (S. 172a/7 and S. 173/6), exist in a version for choir (S. 19; LW J2; R. 508).
Duration: 6' 30"
Difficulty: 3
This draft, titled Les Morts, comprises two sections that act as replacements for bars 40–62 and 120–123 of the earlier Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (S. 154; LW A18; R. 13). The incipits here are for the insertions; the duration and difficulty are for the resulting, combined piece.
Les Morts (S. 172a/8) and its revision, Pensée des morts (S. 173/4), use a setting of the psalm De profundis that Liszt also used in an earlier work of the same name for piano and orchestra (S. 121a; LW H3; R. 668).
Duration: 11' 30"
Difficulty: 4.5
Duration: 8' 30"
Difficulty: 3.5
This piece is incomplete.
Duration: 5' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 3.5
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