I wrote re Beethoven and Liszt:

>>Both composers made mistakes.  I have heard that there is a supposed
>>miscalculation by Liszt in Les Preludes.  This is about two thirds way
>>through where there is a sudden re-entry of brass.  The supposition is
>>that this is out of place.

Mikael Rasmusson replied:

>According to who? Don't you mean the re-entry at the very end? Do you
>think it's out of place? I recommend Kenneth Hamilton's "B Minor Sonata"
>(Cambridge University Press), which is the only decent book about the
>Symphonic Poems I've come across.

I heard this on BBC's radio three collector's corner.  They were reviewing
all the available versions of Les Preludes.  The broadcaster described this
bit as "Undoubtably a mis-calculation by Lizst".  I believe that you are
correct that it is the re-entry.

It was presented as a problem to be overcome by those conducting the piece.
I remember that one version was described as "Smoothing over the error".
As a result of this I assumed that it was common knowledge.

Personally I heard nothing amiss until this broadcast.  Now I can't listen
to the piece without focusing in on this part.  I'm still not sure about
it.  Is it an error well concealed by expert conductors? Or was there no
error in the first place?

Bob Draper
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