Favorite Piece by Liszt?

[corecase]

Hey guys, I've been listening a lot to Liszt's solo piano works lately..  I really love his work, it's truly amazing.  I'm curious which one(s) of his pieces is/are do you guys like most?  I haven't heard too many of his pieces, however, from what I've heard, I must say my number one favorite is Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and my second favorite is La Campanella (which I'm currently learning).  SO, please, go ahead and reply with your favorite(s)..  I'm interesting in hearing responses from others -- it's a good way to learn about great pieces that exist which some of us may not have come across yet.

[stoudemirestat]

There are simply far too many for me to look into picking multiple without going too far - but my consistent favourite is the mighty B Minor Sonata. It is my favourite piece of music, period.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Ever since I heard Valentina Lisitsa play Totentanz...  I fell in love with that piece. 

Ever since I hears Stephen Hough play B minor sonata...  I...  Really admire it!

[emrysmerlin]

The S139 transcendental etudes, it's just pure Liszt.

I don't really understand why the sonata in B minor is so "revered"?! I mean, sure, it's one of the first 1 movement pieces in the history of solo piano, and I agree in terms of structure it is truly an unprecedented experiment. Like, I can really use some lecturing...

[david456103]

1. Reminiscences De Don Juan
2. Transcedental Etude #4
3. HR #2 and #6
4. Concert Paraphrase of Rigoletto
5. La Campanella
6. Sonata in B minor
Too many to liszt

[stiefel]

My favorite liszt piece is "invocation" from his cycle called harmonies poetiques et religieuses.  I admittedly am not familiar with lots of his stuff however.

[corecase]

Interesting.. I actually had never heard Liszt's B minor Sonata    As I mentioned before, I haven't listened to too many of his pieces.  It takes guts to even attempt to learn that piece...  just the length of the piece alone is scary, let alone the fact that it is a difficult piece to play with its technicalities.  Definitely a beautiful piece though.

[nanabush]

Funerailles, or any of his etudes.

Go watch Argerich playing Funerailles; after the initial turbulence, after the piece dies out a bit, when the C-Ab octave RH leap comes up in the brooding melody, it just kills you inside.  That piece is awesome, because it isn't blatantly flashy like a lot of other Liszt, but it still has killer octaves at the end, and the Major 3rd modulations (similar to the end of Un Sospiro) are epic.

[scherzo123]

Too many to liszt

lol

Let's see...my favorite Liszt:

Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
Hungarian Rhapsody No.4
Hungarian Rhapsody No.6
Hungarian Rhapsody No.10
Hungarian Rhapsody No.11
Paganini Etude No.3 "La Campanella"
Paganini Etude No.6
Concert Etude No.3 "Un Sospiro"
Petrarch Sonnet 47
Petrarch Sonnet 104
Petrarch Sonnet 123
Orage
Au bord d'une source
Jeux d'eau
Tarantella
Les cloches de geneve: Nocturne
William Tell Overture: Finale Transcription
Rigoletto Paraphrase
Sonata in B Minor
Piano Concerto No.1
Piano Concerto No.2
Transcendental Etude No.10 "Allegro agitato molto"
Totentanz
Malediction
Grande Galop Chromatique
Funerailles

Can I list my favorite Liszt orchestral works too? 

[davidjosepha]

Listing a billion pieces is clearly missing the point of the word "favorite".

My favorite piece by him is his sonata, and then there's another piece that isn't too well known by him that I really like, Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth. Andsnes has a nice recording of it.

[scherzo123]

Listing a billion pieces is clearly missing the point of the word "favorite".

Liszt is too beautiful. 

[corecase]

My favorite piece by him is his sonata, and then there's another piece that isn't too well known by him that I really like, Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth. Andsnes has a nice recording of it.

Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth is a really nice piece -- thanks for posting, hadn't heard it before.  It's a bit dark and sad.. I read about it on wikipedia (about Nonnenwerth), the piece seems to describe the place.  Amazing.

[davidjosepha]

Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth is a really nice piece -- thanks for posting, hadn't heard it before.  It's a bit dark and sad.. I read about it on wikipedia (about Nonnenwerth), the piece seems to describe the place.  Amazing.

No problem! It's definitely a departure from Liszt's more virtuosic style, but it still has his distinct feel and is very very beautiful, I think.

[evitaevita]

Ever since I heard Valentina Lisitsa play Totentanz...  I fell in love with that piece.

Me too.

I also love Consolation No.3!
Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 is very interesting and Trascendental Etude No.4 "Mazeppa" is strong and addictive!

[emrysmerlin]

I agree, the Mazeppa etude is indeed a "powerful" yet under control piece of work.

However out of S139 I'd prefer feux follets and the F minor etude over it.

[clavile]

Franz Liszt Liebestraum No.3.  A beautiful and moving piece!

[zezhyrule]

Funérailles.

[lloyd_cdb]

HR #4 - I just absolutely love the quasi-cadenza near the beginning and the staccato octaves at the end.

HR #9 - The buildup of the theme in the beginning and then it's return at the end is just magnificent.

[blazekenny]

The S139 transcendental etudes, it's just pure Liszt.

I don't really understand why the sonata in B minor is so "revered"?! I mean, sure, it's one of the first 1 movement pieces in the history of solo piano, and I agree in terms of structure it is truly an unprecedented experiment. Like, I can really use some lecturing...

Experiment ? It is one of Liszt´s most mature works and he clearly knew what he was doing.
For me, it´s like Bach´s Art of fugue, except musically i like it so much more - If you studied some music, you could clearly see that the entire sonata is based upon just one theme + a few little motives.

Interesting.. I actually had never heard Liszt's B minor Sonata    As I mentioned before, I haven't listened to too many of his pieces.  It takes guts to even attempt to learn that piece...  just the length of the piece alone is scary, let alone the fact that it is a difficult piece to play with its technicalities.  Definitely a beautiful piece though.

The b minor sonata is in lenght an average bigger sonata

[cadenza14224]

I've taken a huge liking to the two slower Transcendental Etudes (#3 "Paysage" and #9 "Ricordanza). They're overwhelmingly beautiful, it's hard to believe they were labeled as etudes.

[pianokai]

I really believe that Grande Gallop Chromatique does not get enough credit for what it should.

Technically its monstrous, musically its brilliant, complexity is mind blowing if you took it apart AND its fun and interesting to listen to. What more can you want?

[perprocrastinate]

I don't really have a liking for most of Liszt's music, but the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is simply breathtaking.

I hated it before; "how can anyone stand so many repeated chords and such an obnoxious melody?", but now it's golden.

[fftransform]

Ballade No. 2, Spanish Rhapsody, Apres un Lecture du Dante, Il Lamento, HR11, Polonaise No. 2, some Wagner and Schubert transcriptions.

[magic_hands]

Since there's so many Liszt lovers, I'd like to place this and see what you guys think:

Liszt's Piano transcribed for violin

[tchristec]

I have seen that clip of the transcription for violin of the b minor sonata before and to be honest I thought it kind of slaughtered it.  The violinist was great, and I think it's an excellent transcription, but I just don't think the violin is capable of capturing the depth produced by the piano in this sonata.  It's like eating just the cheese of the top of the lasagna.  Yes, it's good but it goes so much deeper

[magic_hands]

Totally agree. Whilst it engaged me the first time I heard it, I don't think it works, simply because the Liszt is a work of immense power, which can't come across on such a solitary instrument. On the other hand, I thoroughly dislike the Busoni/Bach Chaconne.

[emrysmerlin]

Experiment ? It is one of Liszt´s most mature works and he clearly knew what he was doing.
For me, it´s like Bach´s Art of fugue, except musically i like it so much more - If you studied some music, you could clearly see that the entire sonata is based upon just one theme + a few little motives.The b minor sonata is in lenght an average bigger sonata

I wonder how clearly one can see the theme appearing in the sonata except for 2 sections if one studied "some" music, not to mention the length of the sonata. Too many appregios for me anyways.

IMO the TE are way more varied in colour and much more mature than the sonata in b minor. It just sounds almost too random for me to understand, though I'll give it several more listens.

[stoudemirestat]

It just sounds almost too random for me to understand, though I'll give it several more listens.

Random? Interesting critique. Can you give a bit more detail, like, explaining what you mean by random?

[chopin2015]

Mephisto valse; 4th T. etude

[stoudemirestat]

Mephisto valse

Which one?

I think the second is almost as good as the first. Hell, Alan Walker, author of the magisteral three part Liszt biography, thinks the third is one of Liszt's finest achievements.

That being said, I simply love the first. I feel it's an underrated piece. It's also, in its orchestral form, paired with one of Liszt's masterpieces: Der nächtliche Zug, as part as the Deux épisodes d'apres le Faust de Lenau - and he intended them to be played together. Liszt also wrote a solo piano transcription of this piece. Unfortunately the orchestral version is much better - a rarity for Liszt, usually so good at transferring music to the piano without much loss -  and the piano version of the first Mephisto Waltz is (IMO) better than the orchestral one.  Still, i'd like to see performers play them together, at least occasionally, in whatever form.

[j_menz]

Alan Walker, author of the magisteral three part Liszt biography, thinks the third is one of Liszt's finest achievements.

He's right.

[chewbacha]

Faust and Dante Symphonies. Nuff' said 

[49410enrique]

freakin love this thing! probably one of the most interesting things he composed for the piano. can't get enough it. man those harmonies!

Nuages gris (Trübe Wolken), S. 199 (1881)
about it:
Franz Liszt's short, two-page piano piece Nuages gris (Grey Clouds) is, among certain circles, a very famous piece of music. Outside those circles, which are inhabited mostly by musicologists and theorists fascinated by the amazing modernity of Liszt's late music, it is essentially unknown. One rarely hears it played, and the reason for its obscurity on the one hand is probably the same as the reason for its limited fame on the other: it is, for 1881, a bizarre piece of music, and audiences today are as baffled by it as audiences in the 1880s would have been had they ever gotten a chance to hear it (they did not—Liszt was writing for himself in the 1880s, and himself alone). When Liszt's late music started trickling out of publishing houses during the early twentieth century, many musicians were simply amazed by how progressive the aged Liszt had been. Throwing traditional laws of harmony and voice-leading to the wind, he created in pieces like Nuages gris music that is bitingly dissonant, and, perhaps even more striking, utterly "non-Lisztian" in texture.

Nuages gris bears a two-flat key signature, and it is in fact in G minor. But this is not a functional G minor as those in the nineteenth century would have understood it—the music unfolds in multiple simultaneous layers (one at the very start, two for most of the piece, and three during the last several bars), each of which seems to care not one whit what the others are doing. A two-bar mini-theme is played twice by the right hand at the beginning; it is then played twice more as a tremolo in the bass register and rises up like a gust of soggy air. Soon, the tremolo takes the form of a repeating oscillation between pitches B flat and A natural, above which the right hand plays a series of descending augmented chords that often clash harshly with the underlying tremolo. Later on, the initial two-bar theme is taken over by the left hand as the right hand offers a thin countermelody.

The most startling music, however, is that at the end. The B flat/A natural oscillation returns (now no longer in tremolo form) in the left hand, which also plays a new form of the augmented chord idea heard earlier; the right hand plays a line that slowly rises up, chromatically one half-step at a time, until finally reaching a pair of complex seven-note chords that have nothing whatever to do with G minor (or, from a traditional view, any other key), but nevertheless are its closing cadence—if you can call it that. The tempo of Nuages gris, Andante, may be relaxed, but not much else in it is

[chopin2015]

Which one?

Oh they are both pristine, but I love the first one, makes me cry like a baby.( I say that about alot of things o_O )

[emrysmerlin]

Random? Interesting critique. Can you give a bit more detail, like, explaining what you mean by random?

Like Blazekenny has said I do not study much music and therefore I cannot indicate anything with precision, only vaguely. I will try my best attempt here.

    1. On the large scale, there is almost at no point that the first theme properly returns except for like 2 bars. That would not make it a sonata, but even more free in form than some of Schubert's fantasies. It somewhat sounds like Liszt's Rhapsody in Blue to my ears.
    2. Randomly placed motives, especially that motive that has that "grating" sound (not saying it's bad, but my vocabulary is very limited).
    3. Parts where (1st) listeners cannot distinguish whether it is a theme or a motive... that's anywhere after 5:00 (Daniel Barenboim's recording).
    4. 15:40. Randomly goes back to that last theme/motive right before 5:00.

That's all for now. I apologize if some of you may discern this as a blasphemy on Liszt's sonata. This is not intended as one, just like I wouldn't want anyone to insult Alkan's music.

[stoudemirestat]

Faust and Dante Symphonies. Nuff' said 

I also love both. I think both of them - and many of his orchestral works - are really underrated/under-appreciated.

[stoudemirestat]

freakin love this thing! probably one of the most interesting things he composed for the piano. can't get enough it. man those harmonies!

I love it too. 

[ladychopin]

I love a lot of pieces but HR 12 is the most beautifull 

[emrysmerlin]

Me too.

I also love Consolation No.3!

Consolation no.3 played by horowitz is simply an exclusive experience.

[pbryld]

It's pretty clear that people here don't listen to enough Liszt, when this hasn't been mentioned:

Obviously Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude (sp?) is one of his most magnificent pieces (although I agree, it isn't possible to favor a single piece).

[j_menz]

freakin love this thing! probably one of the most interesting things he composed for the piano. can't get enough it. man those harmonies!

Likewise. It's a fascinating piece to play, remarkably difficult to work with - there's a heck of a lot in it, despite it's sparseness.

[stoudemirestat]

Obviously Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude (sp?) is one of his most magnificent pieces (although I agree, it isn't possible to favor a single piece).

I like the piece, but it's not one of my favourites by Liszt. I don't seem to love it as much as many do and i'm not sure why. That being said, I do love listening to the great Harmonies poétiques et religieuses in full (as it was intended) and hearing all the works in context - in fact in full it's one of my favourite Liszt works. My favourite individual piece from the cycle is Pensée des morts, which to me is a masterpiece (joining Funérailles and Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude) that deserves more attention. Andante lagrimoso is another underrated individual piece.

[asuhayda]

I absolutely love love love Hungarian Rhapsody #13.  I learned it 15 years ago and still play it to this day.  A beautiful mix of passion and technical challenges.  Not impossible to play like so many of Liszt's pieces.  But certainly, not for slouches either.  One of my favorite pieces ever.

[sako369]

I adore his Hungarian rhapsody no. 2 and no. 12........


and of course LIEBSTRAUME 3 (DREAMS OF LOVE) which I almost finished perfecting   

[mussorgsky]

Liebestraum no.3 - Astonishing piece.
Dante sonata - massive work, the best of Liszt
The Paganini etudes - both technically and musically difficult pieces with a strong bravura flavour.
The transcendental etudes - one of the hardest pieces ever written
Hungarian rhapsody no.6 - One of the most joyfull pieces, great octave exercise
Hungarian rhapsody no.10 - a gorgeus little rhapsody with fantastic use of glissandoes
Hungarian rhapsody no.2 - a great Monument of Hungarian culture.
Annees de perelinage - Colourful and contrast pieces with beautiful melody

And many other...

[mussorgsky]

By the way, who doesn't like Liszt's music? It's unnatural to dislike it.  

[stoudemirestat]

Try as I might, I can't do favourites with Liszt. There are too many.

[deighve]

Consolation NO. 3 is my fave Liszt. His other scatterings of music have become altogether boring.

[chopin2015]

By the way, who doesn't like Liszt's music? It's unnatural to dislike it.  

True, I think he totally continued what chopin would have as well, if he didn't  pass away...

[perprocrastinate]

By the way, who doesn't like Liszt's music? It's unnatural to dislike it. 

I don't like most of his music, but when I do, I REALLY like it.