There is much to be said for bucking tradition - whether as an act of defiance for a good cause or as an act of intelligence firmly rooted in forgotten events or history.

Raymond Lewenthal has been - and will always be - a highly respected and personal favourite musician of mine and despite some career quirkiness (which one can easily attribute to a most effective marketing strategy) his knowledge - like that of John Browning - was lexiconic.

His playing was exciting and compelling - always musical first, with a prodigious technique playing an intentional but ubiquitous second fiddle.

This Liszt piece - which is rarely heard - when played is usually heard in its final version.  In this iteration it is concise and very effective with some evocative and gratifying writing for the piano.

However an earlier version exists in archives published by Busoni that, in this writer’s opinion, may be even more effective, by virtue of an altered opening and the introduction of a middle section wherein the “de profundis” theme is used (compared to the persistent use of the “dies irae” theme associated with the mass for the deceased).

According to Lewenthal, a rather simple “cut and paste” approach was taken to assemble this version - and the result is theatrical, powerful and teeth shattering.

A little knowledge goes a long way!

Listen to Totentanz

...on Spotify. 

...on Apple Music. 

...on Amazon Music. 

...on Deezer.

...on YouTube Music.

...on Pandora.