Birthday Celebration: A PlayLiszt for Beginners
Franz Liszt. Sophus Williams, 1881
October 22 is my favourite day of the year: Liszt’s birthday! And what better way to celebrate his 213th than by sight-reading through some of his best tunes – but wait, they are all much too difficult… Although Liszt forged a reputation for composing fiendishly difficult piano music, a reputation that still holds today, he actually wrote a lot of his music without virtuosity in mind at all. Whether you’re an interested amateur or a seasoned Liszt player, read on as we explore the lesser-known beginner and intermediate works by the great master!
L’Angelus, S238, is a beautiful arrangement of a folk-style song with the first line “La cloche sonne” (The Tolling Bell), likely written by one Baroness de Béville. Underneath a series of bare fifths imitating church bells, a simple tune emerges in the left hand. Such sparse textures are a key feature of Liszt’s later music, yet this little gem was penned as early as 1866.
Pensées, S168b, from 1845 is only a sketch or draft, but feels like a finished miniature for piano. Its deeply Romantic and intimate style is similar to the Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S171d, a large-scale work Liszt began in the same year which was revised twice to become the more famous Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S173. Despite a few tenths that must be spread in the right-hand, this elegant nocturne ought to be a staple of the pianist’s early repertory.
Album-Leaf, S167r, is another sketch, although it is regrettably undated and unfinished. The use of extended chords (that is, chords with a seventh and ninth added) in the first few bars catches the attention of every listener, and the captivating melody that follows is noble and moving. For more advanced pianists, the present writer has composed a completion of the sketch, although it can easily be played with your own completion or as Liszt left it!
A popular hallmark of Liszt’s output are his transcriptions of lieder, particularly those by Franz Schubert. Although these pieces are generally out of reach for new players, his arrangement of Robert Franz’s Auf geheimen Waldespfaden, S489/1, is an excellent place for beginners to practise playing with a singing tone. It has the charms of the German lieder tradition in spades, and tells an evocative narrative in a concise and efficient piano piece.
Lastly, if you’re a player who loves the Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244, but you feel you don’t have the chops to attack any of them just yet, Liszt has a solution for you. The fifth piece of the Ungarischer Romanzero, S241a/5, has all of the flair and excitement of his other music in the Hungarian style but without the level of difficulty. It isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but it is a rewarding, short piece suitable for an encore that will leave the audience dancing in their seats.
The scores of the above are all freely available on www.imslp.org, which leaves no excuse not to impress your friends by playing some extraordinary Liszt that they have never heard of. Happy playing!