Liszt’s sacred/liturgical work has unfailingly been overshadowed by his piano and orchestral output. But the image of a musician oriented almost totally towards instrumental music does not take into account the spiritual path that accompanied him throughout his whole life. This edition focuses on two works: Tu es petrus! and Dominus conservet eum, composed in 1880 and published in Rome, the following year, by Manganelli. Both works appear in a manuscript purchased by the Fondazione Istituto Liszt from the antiquarian Kotte in October 2008. Philippe Wolfrum, editor of the Grossherzog Carl Alexander Ausgabe der Musikalischen Werke Franz Liszt, claims to have based his 1936 edition on that of Manganelli, believing that the original had been lost. This opinion was shared by Leslie Howard and Michael Short who, in the Catalogue of Liszt’s works (Rugginenti 2004) place a crux desperationis in the space reserved for the indication of the autograph.
The present study shows that the Tu es petrus!, despite being a Stichvorlage, can be considered almost completely an autograph due to the very numerous additions and variations inserted by Liszt, and that the Dominus conservet eum is an autograph in the strict sense because it is written entirely by the composer on the verso of the second folio, originally destined to remain empty, and signed at the bottom by Liszt himself.
Franz Liszt, Tu es petrus!
Franz Liszt, Dominus conservet eum
Edited by Ezio Spinoccia,
Rarità lisztiane / Liszt Rareties, vol. 6, Lim, Lucca, 2020