"Liszt's piano cycle ''Harmonies poetiques et religieuses'' (HN 639) was inspired by religious-philosophical poems of the French Romantic Alphonse de Lamartine. Whereas the cycle as a whole remained comparatively unknown, single works have become an established part of the demanding standard repertoire for pianists. Aside from ''Funerailles'' (HN 748), the same is true of the longest work in the volume ''Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude''. This work, which is particularly expressive musically, is now appearing for the first time in our catalogue as a single volume it is prefaced by Lamartine's text in three languages. The fingering is by the composer.?"