Années de pèlerinage II (Deuxième année: Italie), S. 161
Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) is a set of three suites for solo piano by Liszt. It is widely considered a masterwork and summation of Liszt's musical style. The title refers to Goethe's famous novel of self-realization, 'Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'. Liszt clearly places the work in line with the Romantic literature of his time, prefacing most pieces with a literary passage from writers such as Schiller, Byron or Senancour. "Deuxième année: Italie" ("Second Year: Italy"), S. 161, was composed between 1837 and 1849 and published in 1858 by Schott. Nos. 4 to 6 are revisions of 'Tre sonetti del Petrarca', which was composed around 1839–1846.
