Liszt - Die Grberinsel der Frsten zu Gotha, S485b (Hastings)

In 1842 Liszt was a guest of the future sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Ernest II, who was an amateur composer. His Gräberinsel der Fürsten zu Gotha (Island of Graves of the Princes of Gotha) is a setting of verses by Apollonius von Maltitz on the island acquired to house tombs for members of the Gotha ruling family. The original song is the second of a set of seven, all now enshrouded in that particular dust reserved for the compositions of amateur royals. A minor work by an aristocratic dabbler it may be, but Liszt lends it a good deal of musical substance by his serious approach.