Années de Pèlerinage, Troisième Année

In 1883 the third volume of Années de Pèlerinage was published. Whereas the pieces in Volumes I and II were recollections of early travels in Switzerland and Italy, the new works, composed between 1867 and 1877, were more of a religious pilgrimage. Some parts already reflect Liszt’s austere later compositional style.

With the visionary Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este, on the other hand, he almost enters the world of Impressionist sounds (it inspired Ravel to write his Jeux d’eau). The Bible quotation about the “water of life”, contained in a footnote, leaves no doubt as to the spiritual dimension of the piece (also available in a separate edition HN 983).