Franz Liszt, a wonderful Hungarian composer of the Romantic era
In his time he was widely regarded as the most accomplished piano player in Europe.
He wrote all sorts of music, including symphonic program music (such as Faust and Dante), piano concertos, choral works and a huge number of works for the solo piano. He wrote about 20 "Hungarian Rhapsodies".
Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss were sponsored by Liszt. Wagner ended up marrying Liszt's daughter, Cosima.
In 1865 Liszt took on minor religious vows and was thenceforth dubbed Abbe Liszt.
Liszt's music is highly romantic and he brought in innovations in harmony in his compositions.
Hungarian Rhapsody (played by Alice Cooper?)
Composed by Franz List
I Love Liszt!
"When he sits at the piano and having repeatedly pushed his hair back over his brow, begins to improvise, then he often rages all too madly upon the ivory keys and lets loose a deluge of heaven-storming ideas, with here and there a few sweet flowers to shed fragrance upon the whole. One feels both blessedness and anxiety, but rather more anxiety."
-- Heinrich Heine, quoted in Walter Beckett, Liszt (1963)
Liszt - Liebestraum (Dream of Love) No. 3
Pianist: Arthur Rubinstein
Franz Liszt, 1856 (painting by Wilhelm von Kaulbach)
Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847, Vol. 1 (Franz Liszt)
Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847, Vol. 1 (Franz Liszt)
Amazon Price: $25.60 (as of 12/18/2009)
You'll treasure all three volumes
Volume I of this massive 3-volume biography of the great Liszt is, as the other two volumes, well written, informative, and, well, fun to read. Liszt lead an exciting life, lived in exciting times, and wrote exciting music. Alan Walker is more than up to the job. His writing style moves along like an octave run up the piano. Remember, these books are about his life; if you want in-depth study of the music, you'll have to look elsewhere. (As I'm in the process of doing now.) I'm the proud owner of all three volumes in hardcover and I refer to them constantly. Don't know what else to say other than "enjoy!" And buy as much Liszt music as you can; you won't regret it.
Liszt Music on CD
The Best Of Liszt
Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
Liszt: Favourite Piano Works
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
Liszt: 10 Hungarian Rhapsodies
Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
Enrico Pace plays Liszt's Totentanz (part 1 of 2)
Program Notes on Famous Liszt Works
- The Faust Symphony (Liszt)
- The "Faust" Symphony, while it is a prominent illustration of program music, is unique in this respect, that it is not a program of scenes or situations, but a series of delineations of character. Liszt himself styles the three movements of the symphony "Charakterbilder" ("Character-pictures"), and has named them for the three leading dramatis personae in Goethe's poem -- Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles. He gives us no further program...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - A Symphony to Dante's Divina Commedia (Liszt)
- Liszt's symphony to the "Divina Commedia" of Dante is in two parts, "Inferno" and "Purgatorio";... The "Inferno" opens at once with a characteristic phrase for the bass instruments with a crashing accompaniment, announcing in recitative the inscription over the door of hell: "Per mi si va nella città dolente" ("Through me pass on to horror's dwelling place"), whereupon the trombones and horns sound out the well-known warning, "Lasciate ogni speranza" ("All ye who enter here, leave hope behind")...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK
I Hate Liszt!
"A smasher of pianos."
-- Clara Schumann on Liszt, quoted in Alan Walker, Robert Schumann: the Man and his Music (1972)
Franz Liszt (article)
For example, regarding the 1840s Saffle wrote, "no one disputed seriously that he Liszt was the greatest living pianist, probably the greatest pianist of all time."
Since Saffle gave no sources, his statement can only be taken as his own point of view. Saffle's statement as such is wrong since many contemporaries preferred S. Thalberg as pianist.
As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the "Neudeutsche Schule" ("New German School"). He left behind a huge oeuvre, including works from nearly all musical genres.
Source: Wikipedia
Liszt - La Campanella
Pianist: Adam Gyorgy
Interesting Internet Resources on Franz Liszt
- The Franz Liszt Site
- A well-researched fan site containing commentary, biographical information, recommended recordings, a personal ode to the composer, a timeline, a bibliography, animation, and links.
- LISZT, FRANZ BIOGRAPHY
- Biographical sketch, caricature, commentaries on his orchestral and piano music, and Naxos discography.
- Franz Liszt
- Article "Franz Liszt" from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913 edition) with emphasis on his religious orientation which rose towards the end of his life.
Portrait of Franz Liszt on a postage stamp from Cuba
Liszt - Mephisto Waltz
Pianist: Sergio Tiempo
Latest News on Franz Liszt
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Liszt as a Conductor
Lera Auerbach plays Liszt Sonata in B Minor
Liszt: Sonata in B Minor (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Liszt: Sonata in B Minor (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Amazon Price: $28.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
Liszt's B minor Sonata is now regarded as his finest work for piano, and one of the pinnacles of Romantic piano music. This book, written by a pianist who has performed the Sonata extensively, includes a survey of Liszt's early attempts at sonata composition and clears away some of the persisent myths regarding program music in Liszt's output. The central chapters, built around an analysis of the B minor Sonata, discuss various interpretative approaches, while the concluding chapter treats the performance practice and performing history of the work. This is the first book to elucidate this ground-breaking piece for the general reader.
Show the World You Love Liszt!
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Reply
- carolynspringall carolynspringall Apr 24, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
- I enjoyed the Hungarian Rhapsody! Good work!
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Reply
- kathysart kathysart Oct 4, 2007 @ 11:16 am
- ~~*~~
Ahhh you are the music master! Love all of your wonderful music lenses. 5 Stars!
Fantasy Art|Artwork in a Butterfly Garden|Legend of Pegasus|Fantasy Poetry:
http://www.squidoo.com/legendofpegasus/
Aloha, Kathy
~~*~~
by ilovemusic
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