Consolation in E

Liszt's Consolations S. 172 (final version 1849–50) sit deliberately apart from his virtuoso concert repertoire — six short, lyrical character pieces taking their title from Sainte-Beuve's poetry collection. They are the closest Liszt comes to the Mendelssohnian Lied ohne Worte, written in his most restrained idiom. No. 2 in E major is a slow, songlike Un poco più mosso with a long-breathed melody and quiet harmonic motion underneath.

Technically the piece tests three things at concert standard. First, sustained cantabile voicing across a four-voice texture in E major, with the melody on top and a quiet but rhythmically alive inner-voice pattern in the right hand's lower notes. Second, pedal management — the harmony shifts subtly, and each chord change needs a clean refresh. Third, dynamic restraint: this is one of Liszt's quietest piano pieces, and a player who pushes the volume loses the consoling character.

Two pitfalls. First, students play the inner voices loud enough to compete with the melody; train them at pp until they sit under without disappearing. Second, the rubato is taken too widely — Liszt's Consolation idiom is restrained, not operatic.

Listening: PD recordings of the Consolations are widely available on Musopen and IMSLP audio. Daniel Barenboim and Jorge Bolet (in copyright) are canonical contemporary readings; historical recordings on Pearl/Naxos calibrate older approaches.