Berlioz: Harold en Italie / transcribed by Liszt

Hector Berlioz’s Harold en Italie draws both on Byron’s Childe Harold and the composer’s own experiences in Italy as winner of the Prix de Rome. Franz Liszt’s rarely heard transcription admirably encapsulates this work’s narrative dramas and landscapes, while his meditative Romance oubliée derives from an earlier song, Oh pourquoi donc. Austrian born Kurt Roger studied with Schoenberg, retaining his teacher’s contrapuntal tendencies while rejecting serial techniques for the lyricism which can be found in his Viola Sonata. Further chamber music by Kurt Roger can be heard on Naxos 8572238.