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Since I got some of his music, I have become an addict! Amazing material, and I am so very fortunate to discover and be able to play through it relatively late in life.

So.... any other pieces I might enjoy? I have been playing Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, Liebestraume No. 3, Un Sospiro and Sonata in B-Minor.

I also recently received Au Bord d'une Source, but did not particularly care for it.

Many thanks!

-merlin

i like rhapsodie espagnole

Welcome to the club!


Some of the popular ones that you can find recordings easily are Hungarian Rhapsodies, Spanish Rhapsody, Transcendental Etudes, transcriptions of Schubert's songs, transcription of Schumann's Widmung, etc.

There is one that I also like but not many people play is the transcription of Saint Saens Danse Macabre.

Seconded and trippled.

Sean Bennett has a free recording available here
http://music.download.com/seanbennett/3600-8277-100125972.html?tag=MDL_quickurl
I think its pretty good
-edit: well actually that's horowitz transcritions of liszt's own transcription, still good though

Youre gonna want to skip his (sean bennett's) HR2 though, well, i dislike it anyway. I obviously dont mean skip the whole piece.
Heres an original way of listening to the work
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aJFddkECA14
Its not the whole piece, but hey its free, and funny

Some consider his Dante Sonata to be an empty showoff piece. Personnally, i love it. I recommend Louis Lortie's recording.

Dont know if youre looking for piano music only, but his dante symphony (not to be confused with the dante sonata) is one fine piece of symphonic music.

I think it is a lot more expensive to order one piece at a time, why not just buy a volume?

Dover has all of the Years of Pilgrimage in one book - very handy (if you don't mind using Dover).

Au bord d'une source sounds awful until you get it up to speed. Then it is amazing. Your fingers really have to fly over the keys.

It also helps to hear a recording of it. I find that to be true for just about any difficult piece.

Let's see... oh yes. Dover also has several of Liszt's opera paraphrases. These are lengthy, extended works - many are a tour de force for technique.

You should definitely try the Rhapsodies. I have all of them in two volumes.

These are great fun and are not too terribly difficult (other than some that have page after page of octaves :p ); many have a very playful side, but I sense something slightly sinister behind all of them. My favorites are the last four.

Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude (Benediction of God in Solitude) from "Harmonies poetiques et réligieuses" is one of my favorites; I also play St François de Paule marchant sur les flots (St. Francis de Paul walking upon the waters) - I find it a little easier than the Benediction.

For supreme difficulty, look at the Transcendental Études. Some are quite a bit easier than others: Paysage, Préludio, Ricordanza, Harmonies du Soir (in that order probably).

You have to try the Paganini Studies. One of my favorite sets of his works.

Also, i second Hungarian Rhapsodies.

Or, his 10th Transcendental Etude (F minor) - one of my favorite. I also really like his 1st Mephisto waltz (the famous one), Gnomenreign (I think thats how it's spelled), and his 6th Hungarian Rhapsody.

His Schubert song transcriptions are utter bliss. I also like Feux Follets, Mazeppa and La Campanella. Not to familiar with many of the other etudes. Oh, and his First Piano Concerto I like also. Good stuff. Have a bash at everything really, it's all good.

my teacher likes Liszt a lot. last time he showed me a few sections of Hungarian Rhapsody 12 which he just learned for his teacher to demonstrate the extrame fast/flourish scale passages in Liszt's music, which was astondingly difficult to me but sounds beautiful.

i don't think i could ever play any Liszt, out of my limit, i guess.

Have you guys heard the Cziffra recording of Gnomenreigen?

Incredible! The video is as well.

bruce-san wrote: "His Schubert song transcriptions are utter bliss."

The only complete transcriptions I could find was a fairly pricey set ($70) from EMB. Are there others?

And for the record, I absolutely do not like Dover editions! My preference generally is for Henle, but EMB (Tre Sonetti) and some Alfred (Un Sospiro, Liebestraume No. 3) are working well.

Thanks!

-merlin

I reiterate my recommendation for Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth (version 4). It, along with the 3rd version, can be found in "Piano Versions of His Own Works III" by Editio Musica Budapest (included in that volume, is also the 2nd Mephisto Waltz, which I also recommend). It was one of Liszt's own favourites, and I can see why.

The Dante Sonata (Apres une lecture du Dante) is, of course, a great masterpiece. Perhaps only the musically lost can't appreciate it. In any case, you should check it out:

http://www.piano.ru/scores/liszt/gs2-07.pdf

Don't miss the 12 etudes (Transcendental), either--I particularly like the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 10th--although it may be that you need to resort to Arrau's unparalleled recording to fully appreciate them.

Try also "Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este", one of the most beautiful pieces of piano music ever written:

http://www.piano.ru/scores/liszt/gs3-04.pdf

And don't miss the 3rd Mephisto Waltz, nor, indeed, the 1st, which you can check out here:

http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/compositions_b/lzt_meph.pdf

Although, to be perfectly honest, I can nearly infer from your current favourites that you may, after all, find the 2nd Ballade even more to your liking than any of the pieces mentioned above, save perhaps a few of them. Here is the Second Ballade:

http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/compositions_b/lz_ball2.pdf

Oh, and one of my more personal favourites, which some insubstantial people like to think insubstantial, Orage:

http://www.piano.ru/scores/liszt/gs1-05.pdf

I like Benediction, too. Especially Arrau's recording.

memrys,
Since you are a Liszt addict you might want to check out "The Alexander Siloti Collection" by Carl Fischer. Siloti studied for a short time with Liszt, and some of the pieces in this collection contain revisions to reflect Liszt's playing of the pieces. See
this link

Thank you for sharing that. :rolleyes:

Actually, that is why I said "if you don't mind using Dover"...

I use Dover for quite a few Liszt works. I guarantee one thing: my audience is entirely oblivious to the fact.

The complete set is pretty huge, no wonder it was so expensive. Look for specifically the Schwanengesang, theyre the best ones. I have the dover edition, which isnt bad. Its the third volume. Im not aware of any of the other editions, sorry.

The Paganini etudeS? I play no.5
Rhapsodies? I play no.11

they are brilliant work

That's a 7+ minute piece, by the way, if somebody is interested. The third version is shorter. The 2nd Mephisto Waltz is a 10-minute piece. The third Mephisto Waltz is about equally long.

And don't miss the Fantasia & Fuga on the theme B-A-C-H: a great piece...

No one's mentioned Sposalizio, from the Italian Annees de Perelinage. It's beautiful, and pretty easy except for one page of octaves in the left hand.

It seems to me that you need really strong octaves to play Liszt.

I tried to play La Campanella a few years ago but didn't get very far. When I have a little more time to practice maybe I'll try it again. Some perilous leaps in that piece.