Picking a Liszt Piece

[scherzo123]

Hi...I have a list of Liszt pieces that I like:

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

The problem is that I don't know which one to choose. I want to learn a Liszt piece from my list that is around the difficulty of Chopin's Scherzo Op.20, Op.31, or Op.39. Can anybody help me choose? Thanks  !

[qpalqpal]

Un Sospiro is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever composed. And its about a scherzo I guess.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

B minor sonata is out of the question lol

[scherzo123]

B minor sonata is out of the question lol

Pretty obvious, but I listed all the ones that I LIKE. I know HR#2 is out too.   

[corecase]

 I think you should go for La Campanella. 

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Pretty obvious, but I listed all the ones that I LIKE. I know HR#2 is out too.   

HR#2 is about as technically challenging as La Campanella I'd say.  The musical part is what makes it harder IMO.

[scherzo123]

HR#2 is about as technically challenging as La Campanella I'd say.  The musical part is what makes it harder IMO.

La Campanella and Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 are near the same difficulty as Chopin's first three scherzos!!?

[david456103]

Depends on your level.

[corecase]

Hey man, let me tell you something..  Most of Liszt's pieces are fairly difficult.  If you're not willing to challenge yourself a bit more than you usually do, then I think you should leave Liszt away from your repertoire for a while, before you feel confident enough to jump into one of his great creations.  I recommend making Chopin's Etude in C# Minor Op. 10 No. 4 your next goal.  If you can conquer that, I think you should be able to learn La Campanella or Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 right after it -- although, I'm not saying either would be a piece of cake after 10/4, but you should AT LEAST feel more confident.

[stoudemirestat]

Difficulty is too subjective to accurately answer this question - but the two I think are most appropriate are Un Sospiro and the Petrarch Sonnet 104. They are both probably easier than the Scherzi (although again, difficulty is subjective) but as close as any other on the list - and they are both terrific introductions to Liszt and his language.

[scherzo123]

Hey man, let me tell you something..  Most of Liszt's pieces are fairly difficult.  If you're not willing to challenge yourself a bit more than you usually do, then I think you should leave Liszt away from your repertoire for a while, before you feel confident enough to jump into one of his great creations.  I recommend making Chopin's Etude in C# Minor Op. 10 No. 4 your next goal.  If you can conquer that, I think you should be able to learn La Campanella or Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 right after it -- although, I'm not saying either would be a piece of cake after 10/4, but you should AT LEAST feel more confident.

I was already planning to do that etude...I'm just saying, I attempted La Campanella and Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 by myself, but I wasn't so good with it. Yes, I can get my teacher's help, but she might think it is unreasonable to learn those huge pieces.

[scherzo123]

Hi guys! Is the William Tell Overture: Finale Piano Transcription near the difficulty of the scherzos? I thought of Grand Galop Chromatique, but I thought it was too hard. Right now I'm leaning on La Campanella or William Tell Overture: Finale Piano Transcription. I like Un Sospiro, but I just don't have enough passion as the William Tell Overture: Finale Piano Transcription and La Campanella, I've decided. Maybe later, it's definitely going to be on the very top of my To Do "Liszt".

[rachmaninoff_forever]

La Campanella and Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 are near the same difficulty as Chopin's first three scherzos!!?

I'm not too familiar with Chopin's scherzos.  But judging from your reaction, I'd say not.

But where the heck did you get that from?!  I never said anything like that!

[corecase]

Yes, I can get my teacher's help, but she might think it is unreasonable to learn those huge pieces.

If you have a teacher, I definitely recommend you tell her that you REALLY want to learn these pieces, and I'm sure she'll make the best recommendations for you -- either she'd say you're ready, let's start HR2 or La Campanella, or she would probably give you another piece to learn first in order to get you ready for those pieces.     Well, at least that's what I think is the best way to go about it..

[scherzo123]

William Tell Overture: Finale Piano Transcription
Paganini Etude No.3 "La Campanella"
Hungarian Rhapsody No.2


WHICH ONE!!!!!

[corecase]

William Tell Overture: Finale Piano Transcription
Paganini Etude No.3 "La Campanella"
Hungarian Rhapsody No.2

WHICH ONE!!!!!

Oh man..... now THAT is a hard decision    I'm learning La Campanella right now, and I truly love it.  If you learn La Campanella I feel like HR2 will be MUCH easier.  So, I recommend choosing La Campanella first. 

[thalbergmad]

Play the William Tell. The other two have been hacked to death.

Thal

[chopin2015]

I like the Sonatas, but my fav. Liszt etude is No.4. I am actually not very familiar with his work. All i know is that he was amazingly good looking and had really good taste in pianos. 

https://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/files/2011/01/Liszt.jpg

https://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/1-437437438348.jpg

[davidjosepha]

All i know is that he was amazingly good looking and had really good taste in pianos. 

he used that to his advantage, being a huge womanizer. I also heard that he only wrote his two concertos as a means to pick up women (which explains why they're so bad yet flashy).

[stoudemirestat]

he used that to his advantage, being a huge womanizer. I also heard that he only wrote his two concertos as a means to pick up women (which explains why they're so bad yet flashy).

Not sure if this is a serious post or not.

[davidjosepha]

Not sure if this is a serious post or not.

He definitely was a hit with the ladies, and I have heard that thing about the concertos, although I have no valid source to back it up (I also haven't looked for one).

[scherzo123]

La Campanella wins. 

[corecase]

La Campanella wins. 

Haha, have fun! 

[stoudemirestat]

He definitely was a hit with the ladies, and I have heard that thing about the concertos, although I have no valid source to back it up (I also haven't looked for one).

It's false, as are most things to do with Liszt's 'weaknesses' as a man and musician.

[davidjosepha]

It's false, as are most things to do with Liszt's 'weaknesses' as a man and musician.

Source?

[spb_jcb]

Have you considered Consolation #3?

Stephen

[scherzo123]

Yeah, but I don't want to learn it now.

[hhopkinson1]

I have studied liszt's Hungarian rhapsody no.2. It is definitely a crowd pleaser and not too too challenging (for me anyhow), some people are good at different things. When I'm trying to pick, I learn the start of a handful that I truely like and choose from then on. You can a tell a lot by a start of a piece.

[j_menz]

You can a tell a lot by a start of a piece.

Surely that is less true of HRs than pretty much anything else. Given that the Friska bit possesses the greater technical challenges and generally comes second?

[cinnamon21]

I came across Liszt - Apparitions,Senza lentezza quasi allegretto today..It's beautiful  

[asuhayda]

Surely that is less true of HRs than pretty much anything else. Given that the Friska bit possesses the greater technical challenges and generally comes second?

I couldn't agree with this more....

You should listen through Hungarian Rhapsody #13!  That one is awesome!  The ending section is like a csardas.  It's a Hungarian folk dance..  And the beginning is beautiful, especially right near the end (before the csardas section).  I learned this piece first.  I'd say it's along the same level of difficulty as #11.  Not as hard as #2.  #2 is not as hard to learn as it is to play well.. most people butcher the whole piece.  Not a good Rhapsody to start out on.