Don Satz wrote:

>I've been trying to get a handle on the first piece, "Invocation", which
>is one strange composition where Liszt appears to be doing whatever the
>hell he wants to.  The second piece, "Ave Maria", is more conventional,
>but I need to get to the core of "Invocation" (if it has a core).  Oh
>well, we just keep working away at solving the mysteries to the universe.

Maybe it helps if you also listen to first version of Invocation.
Leslie Howard recorded it.  The final version is simply a sonata structure.
But if you are looking for the emotional core, then you are on your own.

Mikael Rasmusson,
who is (successfully) looking for Debussy's emotional core