GRAND GALOP CHROMATIQUE

[sauergrandson]

I have a question:

I'm listening to Liszt's Grand Galop Chromatique, by Leslie Howard (Hyperion).     (At listening room, www.hyperion-records.co.uk . It has a very fast closing.

The score of the same Galop appearing at www.sheetmusicarchive.net , lacks of that closing.

Could someone explain the difference to me?

Sauergrandson

[donjuan]

Yeah, I don't think Liszt wrote that, because it's not in his simplified version or in my Dover edition of the 1838 version.  Howard must have come up with it.

[sauergrandson]

Thanks a lot.

[kriskicksass]

It's perfectly possible that Liszt wrote it at some point. He couldn't keep his hands off of any music, especially his own. That said, I have no idea if he wrote it or Howard did.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

My Editio Musica Budapest score quotes the ending played by Leslie Howard as an ossia. The footnote says "... the following cadence, transmitted as main text in two sources (Leduc, Gerard), may be played ad libitum".

[sauergrandson]

WOW. I love textual criticism (also in music). We must prefer "lectio brevior", the shorter version.

[liszt1022]

I don't like the extra ending. It interrupts the flow too much. Also, Leslie Howard's recordings of it I don't like at all. They are too slow. Check out Cziffra's (slightly edited score-wise) recordings of the piece to hear what it might have sounded like in Liszt's hands. With Cziffra, it flies like it should.

Howard doesn't "add" parts to the music unless it was an incomplete piece to begin with. All pieces which have sections added by L.H. say "Completed by L.H." in the track name.

Donjuan - the Dover book (Mephisto Waltz etc) copies an edition of the Grand Galop from before the extended ending was discovered. Also, the version of Czardas Macabre included in the same book is considered an outdated edition because when Liszt re-worked the piece he added an introductory section (not in the Dover edition) along with other figurations of the music in the middle and ending.

[donjuan]

I don't like the extra ending. It interrupts the flow too much. Also, Leslie Howard's recordings of it I don't like at all. They are too slow. Check out Cziffra's (slightly edited score-wise) recordings of the piece to hear what it might have sounded like in Liszt's hands. With Cziffra, it flies like it should.

Howard doesn't "add" parts to the music unless it was an incomplete piece to begin with. All pieces which have sections added by L.H. say "Completed by L.H." in the track name.

Donjuan - the Dover book (Mephisto Waltz etc) copies an edition of the Grand Galop from before the extended ending was discovered. Also, the version of Czardas Macabre included in the same book is considered an outdated edition because when Liszt re-worked the piece he added an introductory section (not in the Dover edition) along with other figurations of the music in the middle and ending.

Yeah, I don't like Howard's ending either.  But about Cziffra playing it like how Liszt would have meant for it to be played, I disagree.  In 1838, pianos were pretty crappy in terms of aftertouch technology.  I don't think it would be physically possible to play a Cziffra Grand Galop on a piano of the early 19th century.  Cziffra plays it like Cziffra, and adds his Cziffra-esque touch to it, that i feel is very independent of Liszt's own intentions.  I think Bolet's recording more reflects what Liszt had in mind.  It is more 'cute' and more like the definition of a "Galop" -a lively dance in Duple Measure (Merriam-Webster).  Can you imagine trying to dance to Cziffra's Galop? whew.. it just wouldn't work..

about that Czardas Macabre, YES I know, it pisses me off too, because I really like the later added bits that Leslie Howard shows us.  Do you have sheet music for the newer version?

[liszt1022]

about that Czardas Macabre, YES I know, it pisses me off too, because I really like the later added bits that Leslie Howard shows us.  Do you have sheet music for the newer version?

Yes, Editio Musica Budapest's reprint of the New Liszt Edition series has it in "Dances, Marches, and Scherzi II."

[maxy]

GGC is NOT a serious piece.

in the spirit of Liszt do whatever you want with it as long as it stays "fun".

How about this for a cool topic:

"What is the deepest interpretation of GGC?"   

[lisztisforkids]

"What is the deepest interpretation of GGC?"   

Lol.. we all know what a deep and moving piece GGC is...

[kriskicksass]

This is kinda off topic, but I just got a recording of Cziffra playing 10 of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and I don't like most of them at all. It's technically impeccable, but his rubato is too much, even for Liszt, and his tone is horrible, especially in the lower registers. Even Horowitz never made such ugly tone as Cziffra does on that disk.

[donjuan]

This is kinda off topic, but I just got a recording of Cziffra playing 10 of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and I don't like most of them at all. It's technically impeccable, but his rubato is too much, even for Liszt, and his tone is horrible, especially in the lower registers. Even Horowitz never made such ugly tone as Cziffra does on that disk.

You're right.


...



.....that IS off topic...