Hungarian Rhapsody redirects here. For the 1979 Hungarian film Hungarian Rhapsody (film)

Hungarian Rhapsody (film)

Hungarian Rhapsody is a 1979 Hungarian drama film directed by Miklós Jancsó. It was entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* György Cserhalmi as Zsadányi István* Lajos Balázsovits as Zsadányi Gábor* Gábor Koncz as Szeles-Tóth...

. For the 1928 German film Ungarische Rhapsodie

Ungarische Rhapsodie

Ungarische Rhapsodie is a 1928 German drama film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Lil Dagover, Willy Fritsch and Dita Parlo. It depicts the life of an impoverished Hungarian aristocrat.-Cast:* Lil Dagover ... Camilla...

.

The Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244, R106, is a set of 19 piano piece

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

s based on Hungarian folk themes

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, composed by Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

 during 1846-1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt also arranged versions for orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

, piano duet and piano trio

Piano trio

A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...

.

Form

Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle class, or by composers such as József Kossovits

József Kossovits

József Kossovits was a Hungarian composer and cellist.Kossovits was employed by various members of the Hungarian nobility, including the Andrássy family. Many of his compositions are dances in the verbunkos style...

, often played by Roma (Gypsy) bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos

Verbunkos

Verbunkos is an 18th-century Hungarian dance and music genre. Erroneously, this genre was sometimes attributed to Gypsies, because usually they were the musicians, although the Magyars themselves were sometimes performers,as well....

, a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation - the lassan

Lassan (music)

Lassan or more properly lassú is a musical term used to describe the slow section of the csárdás, a Hungarian folk dance, or of most of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, which take their form from this dance. It generally either has a dark, somber tone or a formal, stately one....

(«slow») and the friska

Friska

Friska , is a musical term used to describe the fast section of the csárdás, a Hungarian folk dance, or of most of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, which take their form from this dance. The friska is generally either turbulent or jubilant in tone....

(«fast»). At the same time, Liszt incorporated a number of effects unique to the sound of Gypsy bands, especially the pianistic equivalent of the cimbalom. He also makes much use of the Hungarian gypsy scale

Hungarian gypsy scale

The Hungarian Gypsy Scale is a name given by different authorities to two different scale forms. The more commonly used of these scales is the fourth mode of the Double harmonic scale , it can be found by sharpening the 4th degree of the harmonic minor scale to introduce an additional gap, or...

.

Extant versions

Nos. 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, and 14 were arranged for orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 by Franz Doppler

Franz Doppler

Albert Franz Doppler , was a flute virtuoso and a composer best known for his flute music. He also wrote one German and several Hungarian operas for Budapest, all produced with great success. His ballet music was popular during his lifetime.-Life:Doppler was born in Lemberg...

, with revisions by Liszt himself. These orchestrations appear as S.359 in the Searle catalogue

Humphrey Searle

Humphrey Searle was a British composer.-Biography:He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying — somewhat hesitantly — with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton...

; however, the numbers given to these versions were different from their original numbers. The orchestral rhapsodies numbered 1-6 correspond to the piano solo versions numbered 14, 2, 6, 12, 5 and 9 respectively.

In 1874, Liszt also arranged the same six rhapsodies for piano duet (S.621). In 1882 he made a piano duet arrangement of No. 16 (S.622), and in 1885 a piano duet version of No. 18 (S.623) and No. 19 (S.623a). Liszt also arranged No. 12 (S.379a) and No. 9 (S.379) for piano, violin and cello.

No. 14 was also the basis of Liszt's Hungarian Fantasia

Hungarian Fantasy (Liszt)

The Hungarian Fantasy for piano and orchestra is an arrangement of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 14 written by Franz Liszt in 1852...

for piano and orchestra, S.123. Some are better known than others, with No. 2 being particularly famous. Nos. 10 and 6 are also well known.

In their original piano form, the Hungarian Rhapsodies are noted for their difficulty (Liszt was a virtuoso

Virtuoso

A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...

 pianist as well as a composer).

List of the Hungarian Rhapsodies

The set is as follows:

Number	Piano solo	Orchestra	Piano Duet	Piano Trio	Key	Dedication	Comments
No. 1 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 is the first of a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt. Work on the piece began in 1846 in Klausenberg, and it was published in 1853. The piece, like many in the set, is composed in the csárdás style, signified by two sections: the lassú and the friss...	S. 244/1	-	-	-	C-sharp minor	Ede Szerdahelyi	Liszt made an earlier version entitled "Rêves et fantaisies"
No. 2 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set. Few other piano solos have achieved such widespread popularity, offering the pianist the opportunity to reveal exceptional skill as a virtuoso,...	S. 244/2	S. 359/2	S. 621/2	-	C-sharp minor	Comte Ladislas Teleky László Teleki Count László Teleki IV de Szék was a Hungarian writer and statesman. He is remembered as the author of the drama Kegyencz ....	-
No. 3	S. 244/3	-	-	-	B-flat major	Comte Leo Festetics Leo Festetics Count Leó Festetics de Tolna , was a patron of music and an amateur composer, from a prominent Hungarian family, Festetics....	-
No. 4	S. 244/4	-	-	-	E-flat major	Comte Casimir Esterházy	-
No. 5 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5, S.244/5, is the fifth in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt. It is in E Minor and is marked Lento, con duolo. The piece was given the nickname Héroïde-élégiaque by the composer himself...	S. 244/5	S. 359/5	S. 621/5	-	E minor	Comtesse Sidonie Reviczky	Subtitled Héroïde-élégiaque
No. 6 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D-flat major is the sixth work of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies composed by Franz Liszt. This work was dedicated to Count Antoine of Appony and uses the form of Lassan and Friska like many other rhapsodies...	S. 244/6	S. 359/3	S. 621/3	-	D-flat major	Comte Antoine d'Appony	-
No. 7	S. 244/7	-	-	-	D minor	Baron Fery Orczy	-
No. 8	S. 244/8	-	-	-	F-sharp minor	Anton Augusz	-
No. 9	S. 244/9	S. 359/6	S. 621/6	S. 379	E-flat major	Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst was a Moravian-Jewish violinist, violist and composer. Ernst was widely seen as the outstanding violinist of his time and one of Paganini's greatest successors....	Subtitled Pesther Carneval
No. 10 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 Hungarian Rhapsody no. 10 in E major, S.244/10, is a composition for solo piano by Franz Liszt. It is tenth in the set of his Hungarian Rhapsodies, and is subtitled Preludio, although this name is not commonly used. It, along with the rest of the first fifteen rhapsodies, were published in 1853...	S. 244/10	-	-	-	E major	Béni Egressy	Subtitled "Preludio"
No. 11	S. 244/11	-	-	-	A minor	Baron Fery Orczy	-
No. 12	S. 244/12	S. 359/4	S. 621/4	S. 379a	C-sharp minor	Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century.-Origins:...	-
No. 13	S. 244/13	-	-	-	A minor	Comte Leo Festetics	-
No. 14	S. 244/14	S. 359/1	S. 621/1	-	F minor	Hans von Bülow Hans von Bülow Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...	arranged for piano and orchestra as Hungarian Fantasia Hungarian Fantasy (Liszt) The Hungarian Fantasy for piano and orchestra is an arrangement of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 14 written by Franz Liszt in 1852... , S. 123
No. 15	S. 244/15	-	-	-	A minor	-	Subtitled Rákóczi-Marsch Rákóczi March The "Rákóczi March" is the unofficial state anthem of Hungary.The first version of this march-song was probably created around 1730 by one or more anonymous composers, although tradition says that it was the favourite march of Francis Rákóczi II...
No. 16	S. 244/16	-	S. 622	-	A minor	-	Subtitled Budapest Munkácsy-Festlichkeiten
No. 17	S. 244/17	-	-	-	D minor	-	-
No. 18	S. 244/18	-	S. 623	-	F-sharp minor	-	Subtitled Ungarische Ausstellung in Budapest
No. 19 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 is the last of a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. It was written in 1885.-Background:Hungarian Rhapsody No...	S. 244/19	-	S. 623a	-	D minor	-	d'après les 'Csárdás nobles' de K. Ábrányi (sr)

The first two were published in the year 1851, while nos. 3-15 in 1853, with the last four being added in 1882 and 1886.