Liszt Corelli transcription- Spanish Rhapsody!

[cziffra]

I just started listening to Rachmaninoff's variations on a theme of Corelli, and it's the theme from Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody!

What's going on!?

[thracozaag]

I just started listening to Rachmaninoff's variations on a theme of Corelli, and it's the theme from Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody!

What's going on!?

 It's the same theme: La Folia (although Correlli is credited with it, it's quite likely that it's a folk tune)

koji (STSD)

[cziffra]

For god's sake, how many original melodies did liszt ever manage to write?

[shasta]

For god's sake, how many original melodies did liszt ever manage to write?

More than any of us in here have written, Cziffra.  

[Motrax]

Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with using melodies which already exist. Composers do it all the time, either quoting other melodies and works, or writing pieces completely based on older melodies.

[cziffra]

Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with using melodies which already exist. Composers do it all the time, either quoting other melodies and works, or writing pieces completely based on older melodies.

Oh, don't get me wrong, i love Liszt's Spanish rhapsody and many of his other transcriptions, i was just a little disapointed that he didn't write that melody.  It was almost my favourite part of the piece!

[Nightscape]

The melody itself (La Folia) is rather bland and unassuming, but the way that Liszt and Rachmaninoff treat it is what makes it interesting.  That is the true art of composing - working with the base materials like melody.  Any composer can come up with a melody as least similiar or as good as "La Folia", but few can manipulate them into great works.

And Liszt did write plenty of original melodies, and considering the volume of his output, he actually wrote more completely original music than most of the other great composers.  The melodies in Liebestraume and Les Preludes, which are absolutely beautiful, are original, for instance.