Of the first-rank composers within the generally accepted pantheon, three took holy orders in the Roman Catholic Church: Monteverdi, Vivaldi and – more incongruously perhaps – Franz Liszt, the 210th anniversary of whose birth falls this October. Celebrated as a young man for his brilliant technique and showmanship at piano recitals (a form of concert which he invented) and for forming relationships with other men’s wives, he retired from both pursuits at the age of 35. The second half of his life was markedly more creative and contemplative than the first. Although he had joined the third order of St Francis in 1858, it was eight years later (after the death of two of his children) that he received the tonsure and the four minor orders of porter, lector, exorcist and acolyte. Thereafter, he was often called Abbé Liszt.