A discussion around Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2 in C# minor
Each video is about 3 minutes. There are no videos with the complete work, so please watch both.
Please add interesting and informative comments on Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. In order to receive full credit, you must answer the questions thoroughly in your own words:
What is a gypsy scale??? Did Liszt use this in his Hungarian Rhapsodies? Were the Hungarian Rhapsodies originally written for piano or orchestra?
When did Liszt live? Who influenced his musical composition, especially his etudes?
Discuss other piano works by Liszt.
Liszt studied with a student of Beethoven. Who was that? Did you know that Dr. Suter studied with a teacher who studied with a pupil of Liszt, so her pedagogical lineage can be traced back to Beethoven?!
Post a version of this piece (please include the link) that you enjoy or find interesting. Write some comments (a paragraph) about it that you might include in a concert review.
According to https://www.pianoscales.org/hungarian.html
the Hungarian Gypsy scale is like a harmonic minor except that the 4th is raised. The number of semitones between notes of the scale is 2, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3, 1.
The Harmonic minor sounds strange and exotic because of the large gap between the sixth and seventh scale degrees. The Hungarian Gypsy scale has another large gap
according to this wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_minor_scale
this scale is identical to the the ragam Simhendramadhyamam. in Indian classical music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_gypsy_scale has similar information. There are other forms, like there are modes of the western scale.
https://www.livescience.com/25294-origin-romani-people.html
Europe’s largest minority group, the Romani, migrated from northwest India 1,500 years ago, new genetic study finds.
this is an example of a song with the same scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkJXXOFzHyk
surprise concert with world famous Taraf de Haïdouks
I spent the afternoon listening to Dr.Robert Greenberg’s lectures on Liszt (part of his “Great Masters” series of lectures). Here is a flying overview:
His father Adam List (later Liszt) was a musician who had once worked with the Esterhase family, where Haydn was employed as court musician. Later Adam moved to Raiding in Hungary. Franz was born there in 1811 and always thought of himself as Hungarian (though his parents were Austrian and the family spoke German at home). Franz was immersed in music from an early age. When he was 5 years old he heard a concerto and later that day sang it back for his father, who realized that his son might be another child prodigy like Mozart had been. During his childhood Franz became fascinated with the gypsy musicians camped outside of Raiding. The music seemed both ancient yet also vibrant, spontaneous and full of improvisation — and made him feel “literally dizzy”. Later Liszt would say about himself that he was “half Franciscan, half gypsy”.
Adam Liszt taught his son until he was about 10 yrs old. He then uprooted the family and moved to Vienna (then the capital of the musical world) and arranged for Franz to have lessons with Carl Czerny (who had been a student of Beethoven). Franz also had lessons in composition with Antonio Salieri. He gave his first public performance when he was 11. His father took him on a performing tour — very stressful for someone so young, but unlike Beethoven and Mozart, Liszt seemed to have a good relationship with his father rather than an abusive one. When Franz’ father died unexpectedly, he was devastated and went into a depression for several years.
Franz and his mother moved to Paris. While they were there the July Revolution of 1830 took place. This woke Franz up from his depression and he began to compose and to play again. While in Paris, Liszt saw Paganini in concert and said afterward “not only does he play well, but as well as it’s possible to play”. Liszt realized that he could become the Paganini of the piano — someone who could take the piano to its limits. The piano had only recently evolved into an instrument that could stand up to that kind of treatment. The new invention of the cast-iron frame made it possible to have more strings, that were thicker and strung more tightly — so it was possible to play with a much greater range of dynamics. And Sébastien Érard invented a new kind of key action that enabled a musician to repeat a single note much more rapidly. Because of the wide range of tone colors it could produce, Liszt thought of the piano as orchestral — one instrument encompassing many. As Liszt explored what he could do with the piano, he created Études (studies) which showcased different techniques. He returned to and updated these throughout his life.
Liszt was also inspired by the romanticism of Chopin and the wildly expressive program music of Berlioz. Something I was pleased to learn about was that Liszt was a very loyal friend to Chopin, Berlioz and others; during his concert tours made a point of publicizing their music. Liszt thought that Berlioz deserved much more recognition, and transcribed several of Berlioz’ symphonies into piano scores. He also transcribed the symphonies of Beethoven (whom he revered) and brought that music back into the public eye. Many of Liszt’s transcriptions were not strictly literal but more of a “re-imagining” of the pieces they were based on.
One of my favorite anecdotes about Liszt mentioned in Dr. Greenberg’s lectures was that friends would give Liszt an orchestra score that he had never seen before; Liszt would then turn it upside down and sight read it — “with musicality” — while simultaneously giving commentary on what he was playing. This leaves me in awe of what the human brain can be capable of. I’m also amazed that Liszt was able to have such an extensive concert career, giving more than a thousand recitals. How was he able to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome? This makes me think of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who with his huge arms and short powerful legs seems genetically designed to swim. There was some incredibly rare combination of traits in Liszt’s brain and body that enabled him to achieve astounding feats of musicianship.