Overview
Introduction
Liszt's four Valses oubliées (Forgotten Waltzes) were composed over a roughly four-year period from 1881 to 1885. Like many of Liszt's late works, the Valses are reflective mood paintings that shift between pensiveness, resignation, and reverie. Referred to by some as examples of the composer's "dance fantasy" works, the Valses demonstrate Liszt's ability to assimilate and imitate. Although not usually associated with the genre, Liszt clearly had a feel for the waltz's sentimental potential. In this instance, the melancholy vein is more akin to that of the composer's Consolations (1849 - 50) than to his more lively and overtly virtuosic keyboard works.
The first, and most popular, of the waltzes, the "Valse élégiaque," is notable for its graceful, attractive melodic sense; at the same time, it is infused with more than a hint of discontent. While the second waltz begins jauntily, the mood varies throughout, from high-spirited to reflective, in an almost schizophrenic fashion. The last two waltzes are less well known. The third is similar in mood and length to the second. The fourth (and shortest) waltz was truly "forgotten," since it was not published until 1954; it has been described as prophetic of Scriabin in its unresolved harmonies.
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