Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2"

Frederich Chopin's "Polonaise in A flat Op.53"

December 9, 2001 AT NOON Played on the Yamaha Clavinova

Performance to Last 16 Minutes!

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Liszt, Franz, 1811-86, Hungarian composer and pianist. Liszt was a revolutionary figure of romantic music and was acknowledged as the greatest pianist of all time. He made his debut at nine, going thereafter to Vienna to study with Czerny and Salieri.

In Paris (1823-25) he knew all the principal artistic figures of the period and was influenced by Berlioz, Chopin, and Paganini. He lived with Mme d'Agoult (better known by her pen name, Daniel Stern) from 1833 to 1844, and they had three children. As a piano virtuoso, Liszt enthralled his audiences with his expressive interpretations and grand style of playing, augmented with dramatic gestures. In 1848 he decided to make a career as a composer, and became musical director to the duke of Weimar. He remained at Weimar until 1859, and two years later went to Rome, where he became an abbé (1865). During the years between 1880 and 1885, in Rome, Weimar, and Budapest, he taught most of the famous pianists of the succeeding generation.

In his compositions he favored program music over traditional musical forms. Liszt originated the symphonic poem, and although he wrote symphonies, such as the Faust Symphony (1857), most of his orchestral pieces, including Les Préludes and Mazeppa (both 1854), are symphonic poems. In his Sonata in B Minor (1853) he developed the technique of transformation of themes, which completely altered the concept of sonata construction. This technique, together with his chromatic harmony, strongly influenced both Wagner and Richard Strauss.

For the piano Liszt composed prolifically in addition to transcribing many works of other composers. Including all nine of the Beethoven Symphonies.
His most outstanding works for the piano include Années de pèlerinage (1855-83), Douze Études d'exécution transcendante (final version, 1852), Six Paganini Études (final version, 1851), concertos in E Flat (1855) and A (1848-61), and 20 Hungarian Rhapsodies.

Some of his most popular pieces, including Liebestraüme (c.1850), are characterized by lyrical, romantic sentiment; many of his later compositions are somber in tone, full of dissonance and unusual harmonic effects that foreshadow 20th-century music.

Franz Liszt was born in Hungary in 1811. At the young age of six, he began taking piano lessons. His unusual ability to play so well, inspired the help of Hungarian Nobility so that he could continue his studies of music and become one of the greatest pianist of all time.

Today we will hear one of my Liszt favorites, The Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (7 minutes). I first heard it as a child while watching Bugs Bunny Cartoons. In particular the episode where Bugs Bunny plays the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2,(in the middle of the performance a telephone rings. Bugs answers the phone and says, "Hello? FRANZ WHO?, Oh, FRANZ LISZT? Never Heard of Him!" then he hangs up the phone and continues the rhapsody.)

The second piece is a bonus of sorts. Newly encoded from the score using Yamaha's XG Edit, we will also enjoy Chopin's "Polonaise in A flat Op.53" (7 minutes).

Born in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw, Poland in 1810. His father was French, his mother Polish. Chopin studied the piano at the Warsaw Conservatory. He played his first public concert at the age of 7, and published first compositions at 15.

By the late 1820s, Chopin had won a great reputation as a piano virtuoso and composer of piano pieces. He toured Europe, giving concert performances acclaimed by audiences and critics. In 1831 he arrived in Paris where he became well known as a pianist, teacher and composer. In 1838 Chopin began to suffer from tuberculosis. He died in Paris in 1849 at the age of just 39.

Chopin's music has many references to his Polish origin. His mazurkas reflect the rhythms and melodies of Polish folk music, and his polonaises convey the heroic spirit of Poland occupied by other countries during his life. He composed ballades, scherzos, waltzes and etudes. His music is lyrical and romantic, very original with harmony, subtlety and poetic beauty.

Today's performance is entirely digital. It uses a technology called MIDI. First Lutheran has both a midi piano and a midi-hybrid pipe organ.