This coffee break takes a quick look at the War of the Romantics where Franz Liszt was the radical progressive in a shift against the older order of absolute music. As he aged he composed more religious-based, dramatic music, even began to dress as monk. We explore his piece "Sonata," a important work that creates chromatic tunes that can be challenging as to what key it's in. A ground breaking composer, an extraordinary performer, Liszt pushed boundaries, yet seemed to have a sense of sadness about him. He was quoted as saying, "Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist."

Contact the podcast at [email protected]