The ''Deux légendes'' ( French: ''Two legends'') are a pair of pieces for solo piano, (S.175 in the catalogue compiled by

Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoen ...

) by Franz Liszt, written in 1863. In 1863 Liszt made an orchestration of both legendes, S. 113 a/1 and S. 113 a/2.

No. 1: St. Francis of Assisi's sermon to the birds

''St. François d'Assise: La prédication aux oiseaux'', S.175/1 is based on a story of St. Francis of Assisi. It is said that, one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds." The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away.Bonaventure (1867), pp. 78–85 The key of the piece is A major, often associated by Liszt with religious sentiment. The piece contains representations of birdsong, one of the few examples in Liszt's works of onomatopaeia.

No. 2: St. Francis of Paola walking on the waves

''St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots'', S.175/2 is based on a legend of St. Francis of Paola, according to which he was refused passage by a boatman while trying to cross the

Strait of Messina The Strait of Messina ( it, Stretto di Messina, Sicilian: Strittu di Missina) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily ( Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria ( Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian S ...

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. He reportedly laid his cloak on the water, tied one end to his staff as a sail, and sailed across the strait with his companions following in the boat. The piece was inspired by a picture owned by Liszt of St. Francis of Paola (who was Liszt's name saint), drawn by

Eduard von Steinle Eduard von Steinle (2 July 1810 – 19 September 1886) was a historical painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Life He was born 2 July 1810 in Vienna. Steinle came successively under the influence of the painters Leopold Kupelwieser ...

. Liszt described it in a letter of 31 May 1860 to Richard Wagner: "On his outspread cloak he strides firmly, steadfastly, over the tumultuous waves - his left hand holding burning coals, his right hand giving the sign of blessing, His gaze is directed upwards, where the word ' Charitas', surrounded by an

aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...

, lights his way!"Williams (1998), p. 500.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Bonaventure; Cardinal Manning (1867). The Life of St. Francis of Assisi (from the Legenda Sancti Francisci) (1988 ed.). Rockford, Illinois: TAN Books & Publishers. * Walker, Alan. (1989). ''Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years''. London: Faber. * Williams, Adrian (1998) ''Franz Liszt: Selected Letters''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Compositions for solo piano Compositions by Franz Liszt 1863 compositions {{Classical-composition-stub