Volume I/11-12 of the New Liszt Edition contains character pieces. The period in which the pieces in volume 12 were written spans a good twenty years, and includes works both sacred and profane in inspiration, as the titles indicate. They are varied in mood and subject, and include funeral music, such as Trübe Wolken, Die Trauer-Gondel Nos. 1-2, the Trauervorspiel und Trauermarsch, the piece Am Grabe Richard Wagners, but also wedding music, the Epithalam, which was written for Ede Reményi's wedding; we can also find the only piece the composer wrote as a joke, entitled Carrousel de Madame P-N. Several pieces in this volume, first published in 1981, appeared here in print for the first time (Vexilla Regis prodeunt, Urbi et orbi).

As far as possible, the pieces are given in chronological order. As customary, there are two versions of the publication: a blue clothbound edition and a grey softcover edition. The preface, which gives the most important information on the contents and technical details, is identical in both versions, but only the former includes an English description of the sources and a critical commentary. Both versions include facsimiles of pages from Liszt's original autograph manuscript.

Works marked by an asterisk in the Contents are published here for the first time in print.

(Hungaroton HCD 11976-2)