Liszt, Franz

the full orchestral score, notated in dark brown ink on up to twenty-four staves per page, with extensive revisions, alterations and deletions, comprising a substantial part of the second half of Liszt's work, including the lead-in to the main "Allegro vivace" in F major (p.28) and theme of the "Chanson de Brigands" (p.35), its exposition and elaboration, marked , with autograph annotations and instrumental designations in red and black inks ("La 2^de fois continuez la rentré de violons à tous les instruments...la 2^de fois toujours avec le dos de l'archet"; "Grand Duo concertant pour [deleted]..."; "Piano à la flute"), three eight-bar passages incompletely notated (the bars merely cued with numbers and marked "Voyez la partition de Berlioz"), two pages laid out but without music

27 pages, large oblong quarto (c.26 x 35cm), 24-stave paper, watermark: a cross lettered "I I I S", with a heart below, countermarked "Cormatin", comprising six nested bifolios and a single leaf, untrimmed, no place or date [probably Le Chênaie (Brittany), September 1834], modern green folding box, gilt titles, browning and dustmarking to the first and last pages

LWV H2; Raabe 453 ("daß die Instrumentation ganz von Liszt stammt ist unwahrscheinlich")

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

THIS IS THE UNPUBLISHED SCORE OF A MAJOR EARLY WORK FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA, one of the most important such manuscripts to appear at auction for nearly thirty years.  The autograph manuscript was lost, and still unknown when the work was published for the first time in 1981, in an arrangement for two pianos.  That edition was based on the only manuscript then known for this work, by Liszt's copyist Belloni, containing his alterations (in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar).  The present manuscript comprises bars 173 to 422 of the complete work (which is 670 bars in all) and may be the model for Belloni's score, as it contains Liszt's instructions to his copyist.  The Bibliothèque Nationale recently acquired another early copy, in an unidentified scribal hand, with Liszt's corrections in red ink.  

This is a vivid and dramatic manuscript from the height of Liszt's career as a towering virtuoso.  Composed in 1834, it is one of the earliest of Liszt's concertante works, and the first to show the techniques and formats that Liszt was to use in his famous series of operatic fantasies: an introduction, a set of variations on a lyrical theme, followed by more original and flamboyant elaborations on a livelier theme (the section contained here).  This early working draft, notated in full score, shows that Liszt orchestrated the work himself, a fact previously disputed by scholars.  

The Grande fantaisie symphonique is based on two excerpts from Berlioz's Lélio, 'Le pêcheur' and 'Scène de brigands'.  In fact, only three sections of Berlioz's score had been published in 1833, in the composer's own reduction for piano solo.  Liszt's Fantasia uses the theme of the 'Chanson de Brigands', which in Berlioz's work was sung by "Le Capitaine" ["J'aurais cent ans à vivre encore"]; here the bass singer's notes are played in octaves with alternating hands. The music begins and ends in F major and incorporates themes from the first section on the opening pages.  The "Allegro vivace", incorporates sections of Berlioz's original score, which are represented by bar-numbers and cues.   

Liszt's relationship with Berlioz was of the greatest importance in the development of nineteenth-century musical Romanticism.  Liszt promoted many of Berlioz's works, beginning with the Symphonie fantastique, first published in Liszt's piano transcription in 1834.  Schumann's famous review of the symphony marked the start of its success and was based on Liszt's edition; he had not heard a performance and the full score was not published until 1845.  Lélio was Berlioz's sequel to the Symphonie fantastique.  The premiere was planned for one of Berlioz's concerts on 23 November 1834, but was cancelled, and Liszt first played it on 9 April 1835.   Berlioz and Liszt did not perform the Grande fantaisie symphonique together until 18 December 1836.  Later in the 1850s, Liszt had an important role in Berlioz's operas: in the revival of Benvenuto Cellini in 1853 and genesis of Les Troyens.

Sotheby's is grateful for the assistance of Professor Rena Mueller in our description of this lot.