Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsodies 1-10 (1846-53) [Roberto Szidon]

Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferencz, in modern usage Liszt Ferenc 22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, organist, philanthropist, author, nationalist and a Franciscan tertiary during the Romantic era.

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Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-10 S. 244

#1. (0:00) Dedicated to Ede Szerdahelyi based on 3 different tunes by Ferenc Erkel
#2. (14:08) Dedicated to Comte László Teleki. Themes by Liszt and Heinrich Ehrlich. Beginning is of Romanian origins.
#3. (23:57) Dedicated to Comte Leó Festetics. First section is a Hungarian Verbunkos, second section is of Romanian origin.
#4. (27:56) Dedicated to Comte Casimir Esterházy. The first part is a Verbunkos of unknown origins but the other parts are likely based on works by Antal Csermák.
#5. (32:40) Dedicated to Comtesse Sidonie Reviczky, Subtitled Héroïde-élégiaque. The tunes in this rhapsody originate from a Hungarian dance by József Kossovits, entitled Hősi elégia.
#6. (42:58) Dedicated to Comte Antoine d'Appony. The first of the themes is a song Chlopitzky nóta, a tune Cserebogár, sárga cserebogár and a fast Verbunkos.
#7. (49:39) Dedicated to Baron Fery Orczy. Based on two original Hungarian folk songs, entitled Nincsen nékem kedvesebb vendégem and Nem láttam én télen fecskét.
#8. (55:04) Dedicated to Baron Anton Augusz. The first part of this rhapsody is based on a Gypsy song heard by Liszt in the autumn of 1846, Káka tövén költ a ruca. The second part is based on the middle section of Mark Rózsavölgyi's Víg szeszély csárdás.
#9. (1:01:18) Dedicated to Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. Subtitled Pesther Carneval. Liszt used five themes in this rhapsody. The first of these, possibly Italian in origin, can be found in one Liszt's manuscript notebooks. The second theme is a csárdás by an unknown composer. After the third theme, which is an unidentified folk tune, Liszt quotes an authentic Hungarian folk song, A kertmegi káposzta. The final theme quoted is a third folk tune, Mikor én még legény voltam.
#10. (1:12:08) Dedicated to Béni Egressy. Subtitled "Preludio"
The entire rhapsody is based on Béni Egressy's Fogadj Isten, which was published in May 1846 in honor of Liszt.

Roberto Szidon, piano
DGG recording 1972

The Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244, R.106 (French: Rhapsodies hongroises, German: Ungarische Rhapsodien, Hungarian: Magyar rapszódiák), is a set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846–1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt also arranged versions for orchestra, piano duet and piano trio.

Some are better known than others, with Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 being particularly famous and No. 6, No. 10, No. 12 and No. 14 (especially as arranged for piano and orchestra as the Hungarian Fantasy) also being well known.

In their original piano form, the Hungarian Rhapsodies are noted for their difficulty.

Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle class, or by composers such as József Kossovits, often played by Roma (Gypsy) bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different tempo. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation—the lassan ("slow") and the friska ("fast"). At the same time, Liszt incorporated a number of effects unique to the sound of Gypsy bands, especially the pianistic equivalent of the cimbalom. He also makes much use of the Hungarian gypsy scale.