the leading tone

Liszt
Mephisto Waltz Nº. 1 (“Dance at the Village Inn”), S. 514

André Laplante, piano 

The first and most familiar of Liszt’s four Mephisto Waltzes exists in versions for both piano and orchestra; here, Mephistopheles persuades Faust to enter into a late night village dance with wild abandon. Taking up his trademark fiddle, the dark spirit himself becomes the house band and moves Faust and his love to waltz thoughtlessly off into the dark woods.