Liebestraum No 3

Liebestraum No. 3 ("Dream of Love") is the most famous of the three Liebesträume by Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. Published in 1850, the composition began as a setting of Ferdinand Freiligrath's poem O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst ("Love as long as you can") and became one of Liszt's best-known works for piano.

Django Reinhardt recorded Liebestraum No. 3 on 26 April 1937 in Paris with the Quintette du Hot Club de France. The recording featured Stéphane Grappelli on violin, Django Reinhardt, Pierre "Baro" Ferret and Marcel Bianchi on guitars, and Louis Vola on double bass. Rather than simply reproducing Liszt's piano composition, the Quintet transformed its famous romantic melody into an acoustic jazz performance.

Musical character:
The original Liebestraum No. 3 is a Romantic-era composition known for its expressive melody, dramatic harmonic movement, and increasingly virtuosic development. Django and the Quintet retain the recognizable melodic character of Liszt's work while placing it within a completely different rhythmic and instrumental setting. Guitar, violin, bass, swing phrasing, and improvisation replace the sound and technique of the original solo piano composition.

Connection to Manouche Jazz:
The connection to Manouche Jazz is direct through Django Reinhardt's 1937 recording. It is a particularly fascinating part of his repertoire because the source material comes not from American jazz or French popular song, but from 19th-century European classical music. Django's interpretation demonstrates how freely the Quintette du Hot Club de France could draw inspiration from music outside jazz and transform it through their own musical language.

Interesting facts:

• Liebestraum No. 3 is part of Franz Liszt's collection of three Liebesträume, published in 1850.
• The famous third piece is connected with Ferdinand Freiligrath's poem O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst, whose central idea is to love while love is still possible.
• Although it is now best known as a solo piano work, Liszt's Liebesträume originated from earlier songs for voice and piano.
• Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France recorded their interpretation in Paris on 26 April 1937.
• The recording featured Stéphane Grappelli on violin and three guitars played by Django Reinhardt, Pierre "Baro" Ferret and Marcel Bianchi, with Louis Vola on double bass.
• The same recording session also produced Chicago, Runnin' Wild, Miss Annabelle Lee and A Little Love, a Little Kiss.
• The recording is an excellent example of Django's willingness to look far beyond conventional jazz repertoire and reinterpret music from completely different traditions.

Liebestraum No. 3 travelled almost ninety years from Liszt's Romantic Europe to Django Reinhardt's Parisian jazz world. The 1937 recording shows that the musical language of the Hot Club was capable of transforming even one of the great Romantic piano melodies into something unmistakably its own — while preserving the beauty and expressive character that made Liszt's original famous.

Interesting connection: Django Reinhardt recordedA Little Love, a Little Kiss during the same Paris recording session on 26 April 1937 in which the Quintette du Hot Club de France recorded their remarkable jazz interpretation of Franz Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3. The two compositions could hardly have more different origins — one an early 20th-century popular waltz and the other a famous work of 19th-century Romantic classical music — yet Django and the Quintet transformed both through the same distinctive acoustic Hot Club sound.