The musical interpretation of Liszt’s ongoing travels through his favourite places takes us to Switzerland. It is considered the first part, but was written later than the second: between 1848 and 1854. The famous part here is the Vallée d’Obermann. Like in the second part, it was also inspired by a novel of the same name, this time by the French writer Étienne Pivert de Senancour.
Each of the nine sketches are accompanied with notes from Liszt about the inspiration. These usually contain phrases from works of contemporary romantic literature. In the case of the Obermann Valley Lord Byron and the aforementioned Senancourt: What do I want? Who am I? What do I ask of nature? The novel tells the story about a wandering hero that is looking for his relationship with nature, and the cause of his unrest.