Download Franz Liszt: Ballade No. 2 B minor S.171 | Justus Friedrich Eichhorn MP3 Song Free

Official Description & Notes

Franz Liszt composed this hauntingly beautiful Ballade in 1853 in his adopted home and place of work, Weimar. Claudio Arrau, who was taught by Liszt's student Martin Krause, believed that the Ballade was based on the Greek myth of Hero and Leander. He interpreted the work's chromatic ostinati as a representation of the sea: ‘You can really feel how the journey becomes more difficult each time. On the fourth night, he drowns. The last pages are a transfiguration.’

The Ballade is essentially built around two central themes: an expansive opening melody, accompanied by foreboding chromatic sounds in the lower register and a radiant chordal meditation. Both are repeated a half-step lower, whereupon march-like triplet rhythms unleash a wave of virtuosity. Finally, Liszt transforms the opening theme into a spirited major variation, which expands with ever-greater jubilation. Luminous harmonies provide a contemplative conclusion to the work.

Liszt's Ballade is played by 14-year-old Justus Friedrich Eichhorn, a student of Prof. Grigory Gruzman. He was accepted as a junior student at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT at the age of ten, and has been attending the Music High School Schloss Belvedere since the 5th grade. His first teachers were Helene and Sebastian Roth in Weimar. Justus has won first prizes in numerous competitions, including the Carl Bechstein Competition in Berlin, the International Manhattan Competition, the Vienna Music Competition and the national Jugend Musiziert competition. He has also been awarded the Elba Festival Prize and the Swiss Charity Award at the Tonhalle Zurich and was twice invited to the Verbier Festival Academy. Justus has performed with the Moscow Soloists under the direction of Yuri Bashmet, the Lviv Philharmonic, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, Vogtland Philharmonie, Praga Camerata, and Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has performed in venues such as the Seoul Arts Center, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and Tonhalle Zurich.

More videos of Justus Friedrich Eichhorn can be found on his Instagram (@justus.pianist) and YouTube channels.

University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar:
Website: https://www.hfm-weimar.de
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hfmweimar
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5DHklgcx2Fy0uWsrK6G3fw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hfmweimar
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/hfmfranzlisztweimar

Concert recording on September 18, 2024 at the Fürstenhaus, Weimar