Notturno No. 3 (Liebestraum)

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Introduction

Ironically, one of the world’s most beloved piano compositions was not originally conceived as a solo piano piece. The piece commonly known as Liebestraum (its correct title is actually Notturno No. 3, the third of a set of three Liebesträume, or “Love Dreams”) first came into existence as a lied for voice and piano, with the title O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst (“O love, as long as love you can”).

For the text of this song, the first version of which dates from 1842, Liszt chose the first four stanzas of a poem by Ferdinand Freiligrath. Around 1847, he made a second version of the song, and finally, in 1850, composed and published the solo piano version we now know and love.

The poem is a passionate plea to seize the day and love as fully as we can, while we still can. To guide and inspire our interpretation, Liszt includes all four stanzas of the song’s text at the beginning of the piano version.

O lieb', solang du lieben kannst! O lieb', solang du lieben magst! Die Stunde kommt, die Stunde kommt, Wo du an Gräbern stehst und klagst!	O love, as long as love you can! O love, as long as love you may! The hour will come, the hour will come, When you will stand at graves and mourn!
Und sorge, daß dein Herze glüht Und Liebe hegt und Liebe trägt, Solang ihm noch ein ander Herz In Liebe warm entgegenschlägt!	Be sure that your heart glows And nourishes and sustains love, As long as another heart beats warmly With its love in return!
Und wer dir seine Brust erschließt, O tu ihm, was du kannst, zulieb'! Und mach' ihm jede Stunde froh, Und mach ihm keine Stunde trüb!	And whoever bares his soul to you, O do what you can for his sake! And make his every hour happy, And make no hour for him sad!
Und hüte deine Zunge wohl, Bald ist ein böses Wort gesagt! O Gott, es war nicht bös gemeint, – Der andre aber geht und klagt.	And watch your tongue well, Lest an angry word be said! O Lord, it was not meant in anger, But the other departs in sadness.

The song is scored for high voice (soprano or tenor), with the piano providing a simple flowing accompaniment to the famous melody in the voice.

Liszt’s piano solo version, which is very much in the style of his song transcriptions of Schubert and other composers, moves the melody an octave lower, as if it were sung by a tenor, and divides it between the two hands, a beautiful example of the famous “three-hand” technique (see the full score below). The solo version follows the vocal version quite closely, only diverging in a different direction at the climax, omitting the recitative that follows, and extending the two cadenzas with more virtuosic figuration. Comparing the piano version to the full score of the song, which can easily be found online, is a fascinating and instructive study for any pianist studying this piece.

While the Notturno is quite accessible to pianists at the early advanced level, it does have several difficulties, both musical and technical, that can be challenging to overcome. The aim of this From the Ground Up edition is, first of all, to help pianists understand the music better, particularly its harmonic language. This is done in a very practical way, with written out harmonic reductions and non-technical descriptions.

Secondly, the edition provides many suggestions on how to assimilate the music and overcome its technical difficulties. This too is done in a practical way, with most exercises being fully written out, and containing a minimum of explanation. The full score follows below, with the principal sections numbered from 1 – 7, with practice methods and harmonic reductions for each of these sections following afterwards.

Resources and further reading For a complete, downloadable version of this walkthrough, please see From the Ground Up Edition (Click here if you already own it or click here to purchase it) Click here to view open domain editions for this work (external link). Click here to view introduction to the From the Ground Up series and an index of featured works.