Need research/program notes on Liszt Spanish Rhapsody

[jamie0168]

I'm doing a research paper on the Spanish Rhapsody by Liszt and I'm having great trouble finding specifics on it. Does anyone know a website or a book/article where I can get MAJOR amounts of information on this particular work?

[exigence]

Not sure, but ttt / also interested.

[pianowelsh]

I believe Jim Samson has written an excellent book on Liszt. You could start there and see what he says. Brendel talks a little about it in his book: musical thoughts and afterthoughts.  If your still struggling do your own analysis..harmonic, schematic, textural, interpretive. That way you'll have some origional research to stick in examiners love that!

[dnephi]

The Master CLasses of Liszt is quite useful.

He says that after a few performances you will develop the necessary verve.

[ramseytheii]

Well the first thing you should know is that the main melody, appearing in the left hand after the introduction, is an old Portugeuse (not Spanish) folk tune called La Folia.  Liszt was hardly the first to quote this theme and it is really a favorite of composers writing in variation form.  Corelli used it, CPE Bach, Cherubini I think, and later of course Rachmaninoff among others.  Beyond that good luck

Walter Ramsey

[dnephi]

La Folia was the last musical work of Vivaldi, for unaccompanied Violin.

[donjuan]

If you write on Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody, you will mention the history of the traditional themes he has selected, maybe talk about that famous RH scale 123451234512345 and how it influenced Busoni's techinical innovations...

But generally, I think you will have a hard time writing a whole research paper specifically on Spanish Rhapsody.  you will probably have to resort to talk about Liszt in  general, rather than the single work.

If you have to do a research paper on a single composition, I would do Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique or Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet overture.. -->these have stories directly linked to the music, and you will have much more to talk about.