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At-A-Glance

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Composed: 1854

Length: c. 10 minutes

First Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: January 2, 1920, Walter Henry Rothwell conducting

About this Piece

The source that inspired Franz Liszt (1811-1886) in his orchestral work Orpheus from 1853-1854 was the art work on an ancient Greek vase. The rhapsodic, slow-moving music lends itself to the sustained sound of a pipe organ, and prominent French organist Jean Guillou (1930-2019) prepared this transcription, which preserves its introspection and solemnity.