:''The painting which inspired this piece of music is also sometimes called the Sposalizio; for it, see

Sposalizio (painting) ''The Marriage of the Virgin'', also known as ''Lo Sposalizio'', is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael. Completed in 1504 for the Franciscan church of San Francesco, Città di Castello, the painting depicts a marriage ...

.'' Sposalizio is the title of the first piece in

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's '' Deuxième Année de Pèlerinage: Italie'' (Second Year of Pilgrimage: Italy), published in 1858. The composition starts out with a simple pentatonic melody, which transforms itself into a complex musical architecture. The melody then transforms itself into a type of wedding march, which continually embellishes itself to lead up to the grand climax, which contains crashing octaves into a loud finish. The composition ends quietly. Franz Liszt composed Sposalizio, which translates into "

Marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

", from Italian, after being inspired from

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

's painting ''

The Marriage of the Virgin The Marriage of the Virgin is the subject in Christian art depicting the marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights a ...

''. This was quite common for much of the works contained in his Années de Pèlerinage. Although the fast octaves can be somewhat challenging, the piece departs from the virtuosic fireworks that were trademarks of some of his earlier works. The term sposalitzio appeared in the "Most Happy Fella" a show by Frank Loesser that appeared on Broadway in the 1950s. The song in which it appeared was entitled "Great Big Italian Sposalitzio."

External links

* {{Authority control Compositions by Franz Liszt Compositions for solo piano 1858 compositions