Liszt, Franz << lihst, frahnts >> (1811-1886), was a Hungarian pianist, composer, and teacher. He wrote many works for the piano and orchestra, and was the most celebrated concert pianist of the 1800’s. He performed an invaluable service to music as the teacher and sponsor of most of the brilliant musicians of his time.
His life.
Liszt was born in Raiding, Hungary (now part of Austria) on Oct. 22, 1811. His father, a talented amateur musician, was his first piano teacher. The boy’s musical talent appeared early. By the time he was 12, he had been presented in Austria, Germany, and Hungary as a child prodigy at the piano.
In 1823, Liszt went to Paris, where he studied music theory and composition. The French recognized him as a brilliant performer with an almost uncanny ability to improvise on the keyboard. He had once wanted to become a priest, but instead decided to follow a career in music. He was inspired by the success of Niccolo Paganini to become as much a master of the piano as Paganini was of the violin.
Liszt quickly became a favorite of intellectual and artistic circles in France, not only because of his talent but also because of his fascinating personality. In addition, his popularity was enhanced by his generosity, his fine family background, and his ability as a writer and critic.
In the early 1830’s, Liszt came to know many influential people in the artistic and literary circles of Paris. He met Niccolo Paganini, the pianist Frédéric Chopin, and the composer Hector Berlioz. He also met the Countess Marie d’Agoult, who was his mistress from 1835 until 1844. Liszt was romantically involved with many women during his life, including the writer George Sand and the Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Liszt made triumphal tours throughout most of Europe as a concert pianist. In 1848, he retired to the German Duchy of Weimar, where he had been appointed in 1842 as court music director. In Weimar, he began his productive and successful career as a composer. He also conducted opera performances and orchestral concerts and helped to make Weimar a major center for music. He sponsored the work of Richard Wagner and his new concept of musical theater. While at Weimar, Liszt premiered Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Lohengrin. He also produced Benvenuto Cellini, an opera by Hector Berlioz, as well as many other works.
While the Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein lived with Liszt at Weimar, she strongly influenced his career as a composer. But in 1858, Liszt resigned his post at Weimar. He went to Rome in 1861. In 1865, Liszt took the vows of the four minor orders of the Roman Catholic Church and received the title of Abbe, but he never became a priest. In his later years, Liszt divided his time between Rome, Weimar, and Budapest, and taught piano and composition. In 1886, Liszt toured Europe, attending concerts presented in honor of his 75th birthday. He died at Bayreuth on July 31, 1886.
His works.
Liszt composed a great number of important works for the piano. He wrote two complete concertos for piano and orchestra and an unfinished third piano concerto. For solo piano, Liszt wrote one grand sonata, several sets of variations, and numerous shorter works, including ballads, études, rhapsodies, and waltzes. Among Liszt’s most familiar piano compositions are his Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 1-15 (1846-1851). He expanded the boundaries of piano technique with broadly sweeping scales and arpeggios, rapid changes of register, unusual divisions of the beat, extremes of tempo and dynamics, and dense chordal textures.
Liszt wrote two symphonies for orchestra, the Faust Symphony (1857) and the Dante Symphony (1857). He also wrote 13 symphonic poems, which he preferred to call “tone poems.” Les Préludes (1848, revised before 1854) is the best known of his symphonic poems.
Loading the player...Les Preludes
Liszt’s works include a large number of choral compositions, many of them sacred works. He also wrote many songs for solo voice and piano. In addition, Liszt composed a number of pieces for organ.
Liszt transcribed many orchestral works so that they could be played by two-hand or four-hand piano. His transcriptions of Beethoven‘s symphonies made it possible to play and hear them in the intimacy of private homes as well as in large concert halls. Liszt also transcribed organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach and violin études by Paganini.
