Franz Liszt

Prolegomènes à La Divina Commedia (Fantasia quasi Sonata), S. 158b+158c

LW – · R. – · 1839–1849

This piece exists in multiple versions. The first version is Paralipomènes à La Divina Commedia (Fantaisie symphonique) (S. 158a).

The next version is a single manuscript with two titles: Prolegomènes à La Divina Commedia (Fantasia quasi Sonata) / Après une Lecture du Dante (Fantasia quasi Sonata). The manuscript contains a base layer (S. 158b) with multiple additions (S. 158c); the New Liszt Edition gives the final text of this manuscript only and not the separate base layer.

Liszt subsequently made a further revision for its inclusion as the seventh piece of Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième année (Italie) (S. 161; LW A55; R. 10b).

Based on the same work by Dante, Liszt also wrote Eine Symphonie zu Dantes Divina Commedia (S. 109; LW G14; R. 426) for women's choir and orchestra, which does not share musical material with the sonata. He arranged the symphony for two pianos (S. 648; LW C20; R. 370) and extracts of it for organ (S. 672b; LW E8).

Recommended editions

New Liszt Edition (Editio Musica Budapest) · Suppl. 13 · Z. A/B 14711 · ed. Adrienne Kaczmarczyk [including five album leaves]

Duration: 17' 30"

Difficulty: 5

Prolegomènes à La Divina Commedia (Fantasia quasi Sonata), S. 158b+158c