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Topic: Can anyone recommend a good piece by Liszt to develop finger technique  (Read 2607 times)

Offline ramy1989

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Hi I just wanted to know if you could recommend a piece by Liszt that develops technique. I am in the intermediate level, I can play Beethoven sonata op 14 no 1, 3 movement, Beethoven sonata op 10 no 2 1st mov and Bach prelude 2 and clair de lune. I don't want something crazy hard like la Campanella but I do want something to get me started, what would you recommend?
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Offline mjames

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What do you mean by "develop finger technique"? Keep in mind that the material in Liszt's etudes (and Chopin's, Henselt, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff) aren't meant to teach you new stuff. Rather they exploit material that a pianist should already be familiar and comfortable with when they're attempting it. Frankly I don't think there are any "intermediate" Liszt etudes, however there should be a select few that you might be able to handle. Gnome dance is a pretty straightforward [relative to Liszt works, ofc. it is still considerably difficult.] piece, check it out and see if you like it.

EDIT: I must have either misread the title or you modified it. Could have sworn I read "etudes" in the title! Anyways my post is now irrelevant.

Offline jeffok

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mjames is right about there not being any Liszt etudes that can be described as "intermediate". Personally I find "Waldesrauschen" to be a little easier than "Gnomenreigen", but they're still both pretty hard pieces.

Although it's an old chestnut, I'd suggest taking a look at the Liebestraum #3. If you're just trying to find your way into Liszt's piano music, it will teach you a lot about the kinds of textures that he writes for the piano. Based on the other pieces you mentioned that you've worked on, you should be able to manage most of it though there are still some tricky spots. The 2 cadenzas are NOT the tricky spots I'm talking about. Many of Liszt's cadenzas are easier to play than they look or sound - you just have to get the sequential patterns into yourhead first, then the fingers will follow. I would recommend starting with the cadenzas and memorizing them as quickly as possible.

best wishes,

jeff ok

Offline jeffok

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Follow-up to my previous post. I just remembered the "Etude en douze exercises" - a set of 12 short etudes Liszt wrote when he was 15(?) that later served as the basis for the "Douze Grande Etudes" from the 1830s and the more familiar 12 Transcendental Etudes from the 1850s. Be warned though - at age 15 Liszt didn't really sound like Liszt yet. Just looking at this early work you could mistake a couple of them for Czerny although the young Liszt does find more variety of texture than you usually find in Czerny. More of an oddity than repertoire to cherish.

all best,

jeff ok

Offline visitor

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Offline chopinlover01

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Using Liszt to develop finger technique is a bit like reading Shakespeare to work on reading the phonebook.

As Mjames noted, there isn't really any "easy" Liszt; however, I'll second the recommendation of the third Liebestraum. While overdone, it's a staple you should be familiar with, and the cadenzas in there will challenge you plenty. It also has a fair amount of technical work throughout, so it would be a decent challenge.

Aside from that, there's some good stuff to be found in the consolations, as well as some of the easier etudes (the first and third Transcendental etudes are on the easier side of the spectrum). If you want something a bit more challenging, Un Sospiro (one of the pieces I'm working on) is harder, though not impossible.

Offline louispodesta

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Hi I just wanted to know if you could recommend a piece by Liszt that develops technique. I am in the intermediate level, I can play Beethoven sonata op 14 no 1, 3 movement, Beethoven sonata op 10 no 2 1st mov and Bach prelude 2 and clair de lune. I don't want something crazy hard like la Campanella but I do want something to get me started, what would you recommend?
I recommend the Gnomenreigen, and my favorite recording is that by my late mentor and muse, Earl Wild.

Parenthetically, my late piano teacher, Jack Roberts of UNT, told me that at the after-party for the Dallas Morning News Dealy Awards Competition, Earl Wild just got up, sat down at the piano, and knocked this piece out of the park (just like the recording).  All of the people present (mostly pianists) were absolutely thunderstruck!

As a student, and I have yet to fully master this work, so you can learn it slow at first.  However, over time it will give you speed facility that few pieces can.  The notes are nothing to learn, so one can concentrate on facility.

Enjoy:

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