Franz Liszt Two Melodies. Vocal transcription by Clyrus Gottwald

Franz Liszt was born in 1811 in Raiding (formerly Hungary) and died in Bayreuth in 1886. From the age of six he took piano lessons from his father and in 1822/23 he studied with Czerny and Salieri in Vienna. He spent the years after 1823 in Paris, where his acquaintances with Rossini, Bellini, Meyerbeer, as well as Chopin, Berlioz, and Paganini had a strong influence upon him. Literarily he was also impressed by Victor Hugo. During his extended concert tours from 1838 to 1847 Liszt enjoyed great triumphs. Beginning in 1848 he then lived in Weimar, where he composed the symphonic poems and some of his most important piano works (Sonata in B minor, Piano Concerto No. 1, etc.). From 1861 he lived in Rome, where he took minor orders . Personal details

The choral conductor, composer and musicologist Clytus Gottwald (1925 - 2023) made significant contributions to contemporary choral music. As editor for New Music at Südfunk Stuttgart and founder and director of the Schola Cantorum Stuttgart, he was in productive exchange with his contemporaries, Pierre Boulez, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti, Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen and many others. With his Schola Cantorum, a 16-voice chamber vocal ensemble, Gottwald decisively shaped the a cappella choral culture of the highest technical level that is taken for granted today. Clytus Gottwald's transcriptions of piano songs and instrumental pieces for unaccompanied choir are appreciated by choirs all over the world. Modelled on the style of Ligeti, his works set the highest of musical standards. Clytus Gottwald has received several awards for his services, including the Cultural Prize of Baden-Württemberg in 2009, the European Church Music Prize in 2012, and the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2014. His importance for the development of contemporary choral music cannot be overestimated. Personal details