Annees de Pelerinage, Book 3

The third volume of Années de Pèlerinage was published in 1883. Whereas the pieces in Volumes I and II were recollections of early travels in Switzerland and Italy, the new works, composed between 1867 and 1877, were more of a religious pilgrimage. Some parts already reflect Liszt s austere later compositional style. With the visionary Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d Este, on the other hand, he almost enters the world of Impressionist sounds (it inspired Ravel to write his Jeux d’eau). The Bible quotation about the “water of life”, contained in a footnote, leaves no doubt as to the spiritual dimension of the piece.