Liszt Options

[porilo]

Hi! This year being the bicentenary of Liszt's birth and myself being a self-confessed "Liszt-a-holic", I thought it would be good to have a thread for people to write about their experiences with his music, what people are playing or learning at the moment, recommendations for interesting pieces, etc. I have heard so many rare and obscure pieces from Leslie Howard's CDs, and some of them are actually not as difficult as they sound, although most are far beyond my modest ability (I know my limits!) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Chappelle de Guillaume Tell, from book 1 of the Years of Pilgrimage, has always been one of my favourites having learnt it years ago, so I am currently in the process of revising that, together with starting to learn a couple of "rarities" which I've never played before. Something to keep the brain and fingers active.

[oldnotes]

I'm hoping to give 'Hymn for the awakening child' from his 'Harmonies poetique et religeuse' an airing before friends in March. At 71/2 minutes it's too long for most of the concerts I take part in, but it is my favourite 'playable' Liszt piece. I have Stephen Osborne's CD of the Harmonies, which I believe was CD of the year some 4 or 5 years ago. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[rovikered]

I am both a pianist and organist, and I am learning Liszt's 'Weinen Klagen' variations in the organ version as well as some of his lesser known and more easily playable organ works.
This year should be a great one for Liszt !

[fsharpminor]

I have played absolutely no Liszt at all , on either organ or piano. What would I give to play his organ piece on B-A-C-H. So I watch this thread with interest for anything Grade 7,8 or Dip on organ or piano thats manageable with out too much practice, that probably means Grade 7-8.

[Mad Tom]

I have played absolutely no Liszt at all , on either or piano. What would I give to play his organ piece on B-A-C-H. So I watch this thread with interest for anything Grade 7,8 or Dip on organ or piano thats manageable with out too much practice, that probably means Grade 7-8.

Liszt wrote lots of relatively accessible music. It is not all difficult like "Wilde Jagde" and the first Mephisto Waltz. The Liebestraume, Consolations, and quite a few of the "Harmonies" are not at all difficult. Even the stuiff that takes a lot of work to learn eventually becomes easy and falls nicely under the fingers in a way that the music of other Romantic composers (Brahms, Schumann, ... even Chopin) never does.

For a pianist of your standard you could browse (admittedly slowly for some of it) through almost anything that Liszt wrote and make your own selection. Amongst easier pieces I am fond of Consolation No. 3, and his arrangement of Schubert's "Standchen"

[porilo]

I totally agree. Liszt was a pianist and although much of his music is certainly not "easy", it is "pianistic" and lies under the hands very well, unlike some composers whom I can thing of (Dvorak comes to mind - his piano pieces are among the most unpianistic I've ever come across!). If you look on the IMSLP there are lots of pieces which are hardly ever played now and some of them are real gems. I'm in the process of learning two marches at the moment. One is "Vom fels zum meer". It has a really charming middle section. Now, how many people have ever heard of that piece? I discovered it myself only a few days ago and liked it immediately I heard it.

[Panthera]

One of my all time favourite pieces has always been Vallee d'Obermann. Sadly I can't manage it (yet!) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) Other than the Consolations (I've played all of them), I haven't played much Liszt at all... I love most pieces from the 1st Annees de pelerinage, though, so maybe I should give one a go this year (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[rovikered]

I have played absolutely no Liszt at all , on either organ or piano. What would I give to play his organ piece on B-A-C-H. So I watch this thread with interest for anything Grade 7,8 or Dip on organ or piano thats manageable with out too much practice, that probably means Grade 7-8.

Hi fsharpminor,

As a Grade7/8 organist, there is quite a bit of Liszt's organ music accessible to you. For starters you might try :
'Am Grabe Richard Wagners'
'Excelsior'
'Weihnachten' (Four Christmas Pieces)
'Weimars Volkslied'

They are all included in Volume IV of the Margittay edition of Liszt's Complete organ Works. The publisher is Editio Musica, Budapest, but they are obtainable in the U.K. through Boosey and Hawkes.

By the way, there is now a Liszt thread on the Viva Organ forum.

Best wishes.

rk

[Chopinzee]

I have played absolutely no Liszt at all , on either or piano. What would I give to play his organ piece on B-A-C-H. So I watch this thread with interest for anything Grade 7,8 or Dip on organ or piano thats manageable with out too much practice, that probably means Grade 7-8.

Liszt wrote lots of relatively accessible music. It is not all difficult like "Wilde Jagde" and the first Mephisto Waltz. The Liebestraume, Consolations, and quite a few of the "Harmonies" are not at all difficult. Even the stuiff that takes a lot of work to learn eventually becomes easy and falls nicely under the fingers in a way that the music of other Romantic composers (Brahms, Schumann, ... even Chopin) never does.

For a pianist of your standard you could browse (admittedly slowly for some of it) through almost anything that Liszt wrote and make your own selection. Amongst easier pieces I am fond of Consolation No. 3, and his arrangement of Schubert's "Standchen"

The Liebestraume, in my view, are considerably more difficult than the Consolations...and to play them well, at least for most amateurs...you have to do your homework. Liebestraume#2 is probably the least challenging, but even in that one there is some trickery going on. The first one is possibly my favourite piece by this composer, the ''Liszt trill'' part is especially hard though as is some of the left hand . The third and easily the most popular, has some octave jumps on the fourth page that to execute quickly take some work, the quasi cadenzas have also caused me some grief...As for the Consolations, I've found them to be amongst the most interesting of his compositions, and having more beauty-not to mention substance- than some of his really flashy stuff. Apart from these nine, I recently tried three of Liszts transcriptions of songs: Meine Freude by Chopin, and Lorelei, which i think is his own song, as well as the Schubert Standchen.

[fsharpminor]

The new edition of Pianist Magazine has a copy of 'Au Lac de Wallenstadt' from Annees de Pelerinage Bk1., so for my first serious Liszt Im going to have a go at that. There is an article by Lucy Parham giving advice about it. It also has 'Au bord d'une Source'
Also in the mag is Albeniz 'Cordoba' which looks interesting

[oldnotes]

Me too - it's not easy though, particularly page 4!

[aesir22]

I have only recently sat down and properly listened to his work. Suffice to say I love it! Very passionate and technically amazing!

[Robodoc]

I have only recently sat down and properly listened to his work. Suffice to say I love it! Very passionate and technically amazing!

I have long thought that one of the reasons a lot of people don't like Liszt is that the dazzling technical fireworks (even from what one might term "top pro's") can mask the beauty of the music underneath. I have also thought that on the rare occasions that a performer is so technically good that you don't notice the technique, the beauty can shine through with astonishing power.