' (German for ''Dreams of Love'') is a set of three solo

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

nocturnes (S.541/R.211) by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

published in 1850. Originally the three ' were conceived as

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er after poems by

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist, literary historian, lawyer and politician. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, b ...

and Ferdinand Freiligrath. In 1850 two versions appeared simultaneously as a set of songs for high voice and piano, and as transcriptions for piano two-hands. The two poems by Uhland and the one by Freiligrath depict three different forms of love. Uhland's "" (exalted love) is saintly or religious love: the "martyr" renounces worldly love and "heaven has opened its gates". The second song "" (blessed death) is often known by its first line ("", "I had died"), and evokes erotic love; ("I was dead from love's bliss; I lay buried in her arms; I was wakened by her kisses; I saw heaven in her eyes"). Freiligrath's poem for the third

nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' "of the night") was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...

is about unconditional mature love ("Love as long as you can!", " O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst").

Liebestraum No. 3

Liebestraum No. 3 in

A-flat major A-flat major is a major scale based on A♭ (musical note), A, with the pitches A, B♭ (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D♭ (musical note), D, E♭ (musical note), E, F (musical note), F, and G (musical note), G. Its key signature has fou ...

is the most familiar of the three nocturnes and is in three sections, each divided by a fast

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

requiring dexterous fingerwork and a high degree of technical ability. One melody is used throughout, and varied, notably near the middle of the nocturne, at a climax, where it is played in a series of octaves and then rendered in arpeggios. A sample from the opening bars, adapted from the first edition engraving (1850), ''Liebesträume'', S. 541 follows: : \header tempoMark = global = \parallelMusic #'(voiceA voiceB voiceC voiceD) right = left = \score

References

External links

*
Sheet music
of Liebestraum No.3 on Cantorion.org

Real recordings by Otto Higel, Leo Ornstein, Josef Lhevinne, Eugene d'Albert, Katsuhiro Oguri

various recordings

* ttps://harpers.org/2009/11/freiligrath-_o-lieb-so-lang-du-lieben-kannst_/ "Freiligrath – 'O lieb, so lang du lieben kannstby Scott Horton, 8 November 2009, ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Liebestraume Compositions by Franz Liszt Compositions for solo piano 1850 compositions Adaptations of works by Ludwig Uhland