A Symphony to Dante's Divine Comedy, Franz Liszt (A beautiful blend of music, poetry, and history)

[@JP250506]

It would be intriguingly innovative to programme Franz Lizst's Dante Symphony which is played during the first half of the concert followed by Josef Suk's Asrael Symphony after the intermission in a single back-to-back session as the pairing of both works would serve as ideal companion pieces to each other. In terms of duration, the Dante lasts for about 45-50 mins while the Asrael plays for about just under an hour. Furthermore, these two central European works possess remarkably striking affinities in the way that they are scored. Both are filled with the fearsome threnodies of thunderous timpani rolls and harsh hammer blows as they plummet the depths of despair and unbearable human suffering only to conclude on a blissful or consolatory note in their respective closing passages. As such, they would provide quite a splendid and unforgettable musical experience to all concert-goers alike during the upcoming Halloween, All Saints & All Souls commemoration period. That would be quite a spectacular post-Covid mid-autumnal concert treat indeed!!! However if performed and recorded without an audience amid the continuing Covid lockdown enforced by social distancing considerations, the concluding Magnificat segment of the Dante Symphony could be undertaken with the female chorus interspersed widely apart stationed among the lower and upper circle seats of the concert hall overlooking and encircling the concert stage to achieve that magically enhanced sensurround acoustic effect. The pairing would also serve as an excellent coupling for a 2-CD recording.

[@Ursulas_Odds_and_Sods]

Those are great ideas! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@BrandonsBookshelf]

oh wow, this so so cool. I had no idea there was a symphony of The Comedy! Thank you for sharing this and all the history of it as well!

[@Ursulas_Odds_and_Sods]

It's an amazing piece of music!

[@tomlabooks3263]

Catching up. This was wonderful! Intense symphonic music that I probably have never heard before. I will listen tonight. In a perfect world, I’d love it if they made a 9-hours Fantasia-style animation of the Divine Comedy !!

[@Ursulas_Odds_and_Sods]

That would be incredible!

[@thimblequack]

I haven't seen any of your stuff yet, but the list of videos seem so interesting, I have to like, comment, and subscribe. :D