Consolation No. 3 (S.172)

Background

Franz Liszt is remembered as the great virtuoso of the nineteenth century, but his six Consolations, S. 172, are some of his gentlest pieces. He wrote them around 1849–50, soon after he had settled in Weimar and largely given up touring as a concert pianist, and they were published in 1850. An earlier version of the set also exists. The title is usually linked to Consolations, a collection of poems published in 1830 by the French writer Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve.

No. 3, in D flat major and marked Lento placido (slow and calm), is by far the best known of the six. It is a nocturne in all but name: a long, singing melody over a softly rippling accompaniment, very much in the spirit of Chopin's nocturnes.

How to practise it

The left hand sets the scene alone for over two bars. It sounds a deep bass note, then ripples in triplet eighth notes through a chord higher up, and the pedal keeps the bass ringing underneath.

The jump from the low D flat up to the triplets is the main difficulty. Play the bass note, catch it with the pedal, and move the hand straight up, so the first triplet note comes in time. Practise just that leap ten times, slowly, before you play whole bars. Keep the triplets soft and even, like water, with no accent where each group starts.

The melody enters on the last beat of bar 3, high in the right hand:

The long notes must sing over the triplets without being forced. Play them with arm weight from a relaxed wrist, and listen to each one as it fades, so the next note continues the line rather than starting a new one.

Later the melody returns in octaves, an octave higher, which needs the hand held open in a light, stable shape. In the middle section the music wanders into distant keys and grows warmer and fuller before the tune comes home. Near the end, bar 56 contains a quick flourish that climbs into the piano's top octave. It should sound like a sparkle of light, so practise it slowly in small groups and never let it turn loud.

A plan:

1. Left hand alone at 36 beats a minute, with the pedal.
2. Right hand alone, singing the melody.
3. Hands together at 36, then 46, then the full 56.
4. The octave passage and the flourish as separate exercises.

Change the pedal with each new bass note or harmony, and listen hard for blurring. Let the final chords die away to nothing.

Holding a melody over a moving accompaniment is a skill you can build with the how to practise piano guide.