Liszt: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 70 Marches

Franz Liszt's lifelong engagement with the March is the focus of this volume. The March form offered a medium laden with public meaning allied to the possibility of reinvention and harmonic adventurousness. The symphonic depth of the Goethe-Festmarsch, for example, is elevated far above a mere commemorative work, and the Marche funèbre, composed two days after the death of his father, is a sombre, restrained elegy that foreshadows the austere style of Liszt's later compositions. Whether exploring stylised folk elements or national pageantry reflecting Hungarian nationhood, the March drew from Liszt bold architectural design, rich harmonies and stirring thematic material.