Grey Clouds, S. 199

Nuages gris (pronounced: [nɥaːʒ ɡʁi]; French, lit. Grey Clouds), S.199 or Trübe Wolken, is a work for piano solo composed by Franz Liszt on August 24, 1881. It is one of Liszt's most haunting and at the same time one of his most experimental works, representing, according to Allen Forte, "a high point in the experimental idiom with respect to expressive compositional procedure."' If we must look for biographical parallels with the music, perhaps the bleakness of mood is connected with difficulties faced by Liszt at the time of composition, when he was suffering from dropsy, failing eyesight, and severe injuries sustained in a fall down the stairs of the Hofgärtnerei seven weeks earlier.