Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 (S.244/19) is the last of a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies

Hungarian Rhapsodies

Hungarian Rhapsody redirects here. For the 1979 Hungarian film Hungarian Rhapsody . For the 1928 German film Ungarische Rhapsodie.The Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244, R106, is a set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846-1853, and later in 1882 and 1885...

 by the Hungarian composer 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...

. It was written in 1885.

Background

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 is based on the Csárdás nobles by Komel Ábrányi, better known as a music critic than as a composer.

Analysis

The piece begins with a sharp theme, beginning in the lower register but moving up and down the piano several times. Slowly the theme develops more Hungarian character and also becomes more interesting. Halfway through the piece the mood changes drastically and a memorable four-note melody is introduced, taking the main focus of this section. This theme is repeated many times, although from time to time is varied in different ways. In the climax and ending of the piece we revisit some of Liszt’s flashy writing from his youth.

This Rhapsody normally lasts about ten minutes.

Horowitz Transcription

The pianist Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz    was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...

 wrote his own piano transcription of the 19th Rhapsody, remarking to Thomas Frost

Thomas Frost

Thomas Frost is multiple Grammy Award-winning classical music producer, who won many of his awards for producing the albums of Vladimir Horowitz...

that Liszt was "quite old" when he composed it. To elaborate, Horowitz said that "it has wonderful ideas, but they are sketchy sometimes, not developed. That's why it needed to be transcribed." On the transcription itself, Horowitz mentions some "doubling and expanding" in the lassan section, while changing the form of the friska section, noting that Liszt "repeats the same thing," describing it as "a little bit naïve."

Another aspect of Horowitz's transcription was the ending, which he made "more brilliant... but not brilliancy for its own sake." In a fond remark of this Rhapsody, Horowitz also told Frost that:

External links

• [ Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 at Allmusic]