FRANZ LISZT : Hungarian Rhapsodies (Leslie Howard) (2011) 2CD / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This project comes to a close with the 93rd and 94th CDs in the 57th volume of the complete solo piano works of Liszt and, after the curiosities of the penultimate volume, we finish with some of Liszt’s best-known (if not necessarily his best-understood) works, the Hungarian Rhapsodies.
As we have seen (in the Magyar dalok & Magyar rapszódiák, Vol. 29, and the Ungarischer Romanzero, Vol. 52), Liszt made some effort to collect folk material himself. He was also a lifelong admirer of the music of the gypsies, many of whose improvisations were based on composed (and often published) melodies. Liszt’s decision not to distinguish between Hungarian folk music and popular compositions employed by gypsy musicians may not be in line with the spirit of twentieth-century ethnomusicology, but his efforts to promote all the music familiar to him from the land of his birth were as noble as they were honest. Whilst Liszt’s book Les bohémiens et leur musique en Hongrie was somewhat tarnished by the editorial additions of the Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, even there he makes a brave attempt to account for the fascination of this music, partly folk-inspired, partly professionally composed, and partly the momentary inspiration of its performers. That book was intended as a preface (!) to the Hungarian Rhapsodies.

There is some very fine literature about the origin of many of the themes employed in the Rhapsodies, but the subject is far too complex to reduce in any meaningful way for inclusion in this introduction. It is gratefully acknowledged the information provided below owes much to Zoltán Gárdony’s excellent article A Chronology of Ferenc Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies (published in English in the 1995 Liszt Society Journal) and to David Clegg’s subsequent Observations on that article (in the 1996 Journal). It should also be borne in mind that some of the themes might well be Liszt’s own, written in the style of melodies which he had heard.

Liszt may have turned his back upon his earlier piano works in the Hungarian style (as can be seen from his annotations in the Thematic Catalogue of his works) but he certainly used much material from the first cycle of Hungarian Songs and Rhapsodies (see Vol. 29) in the Rapsodies hongroises III–XV. (In Volume 29 there is a table listing the thematic connections between the various works.) But the first and second Rapsodies are quite new. All the works bear dedications to important Hungarians of the day (Szerdahelyi, Teleki, Festetics, Kázmér Esterházy, Mme Reviczky, Apponyi, Orczy, Augusz, Egressy), or to musicians with Hungarian interests (Joachim, Ernst, von Bülow). The later works express an even stronger affinity with Hungary: Rhapsodies XVI–XVIII are entirely original compositions in the Hungarian manner, whilst XIX returns to the methods employed in the earlier works, this time citing the origin of the themes. The last four Rhapsodies were all published in Hungary, generally with Hungarian and German titles, and with Liszt’s name in his now-preferred Hungarian style: Liszt Ferenc. Extraordinarily, there are still some modern editions of the Rhapsodies that simply omit the last four (although Peters Edition has recently added them in exchange for the inappropriately included Rapsodie espagnole that originally ended the second volume). As we have previously remarked, Liszt deliberately employed Roman numerals to distinguish this set from the earlier publication, where Arabic numerals were used.

In the present recording, the main texts of the pieces are presented. Various earlier versions and alternative readings will be found in Volume 56. But since Liszt wrote two cadenzas for the second Rhapsody, one of them is included here. The pieces themselves probably need very little introduction: many of them adopt the pattern of the slow first section (lassú) and second fast section (friss) familiar from so much improvised Hungarian music, and yet the variety of expression is astonishing. In the introduction to the volumes of the Rhapsodies in the Neue Liszt-Ausgabe, the editors Zoltán Gárdonyi and Istvan Szelényi make the following important observations: ‘It is not merely for reasons of authenticity that the present new edition is intended to put an end to the various and often completely contradictory interpretations of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. To this day these works are principally but erroneously looked upon as more or less trivial products of keyboard literature for the very reason that they use folklore themes and employ them in the style of popular gypsy bands. We have here the reason for the general inaccuracy in performance and the tendency to indulge in vivid though rough showmanship. It is high time that Liszt’s Hungarian folklore studies were placed before interpreters in all their variety and their idiomatic richness. It should be pointed out that in performance, despite all the virtuosity they demand, mere technical bravura should never predominate. If the Hungarian Rhapsodies—apart from the Héroïde élégiaque—have no programme that can be formulated in words, we must not overlook the poetic basis of both their content and their expression.’

Rapsodie hongroise I was begun no earlier than 1847, and uses material from the third of the Consolations in their first version (see Vol. 36). (There is also an incomplete manuscript, entitled Rêves et fantaisies, missing both the beginning and the end of a much more complicated work which is clearly the forerunner of the present piece, in the Goethe-Schiller Archive.) The piece is in the familiar csárdás pattern of lassú and friss: fast and slow sections, each with a mixture of elements of improvisation and variation. There are two themes in the slow section: the first—presented when the music finally settles for E major after the introduction—was either composed or adapted by Ferenc Erkel in 1844; the second, which appears after a cadenza taking the music to D flat major, is by Gáspár Bernát, and was published in 1847. The fast section is based on a theme composed by Károly Thern in 1842.

Rapsodie hongroise II is virtually Liszt’s best-known work and has been performed to great effect even by Bugs Bunny (Rhapsody Rabbit, Warner Bros., 1946) and by Tom and Jerry (Cat Concerto, MGM, 1946—Academy Award). It is the only one of the first fifteen rhapsodies not based on any earlier Liszt composition, and it is not known from where any of the themes originate. The very opening theme is noted in a Liszt sketchbook of 1846 as something he had heard performed, but the remainder of the material might well be original. The piece may date from as early as 1847, but it was not published until 1851. Towards the end of the fast section Liszt writes ‘cadenza ad libitum’, and many pianists have added their own improvisatory compositions at this point, notably Eugen d’Albert and Sergei Rachmaninov. In his last years, whilst giving his famous masterclasses, Liszt added a cadenza for Toni Raab, which is employed in this recording. (He also wrote her a new coda, and he wrote a whole series of extensions and elaborations for Lina Schmalhausen. At some point he also wrote an extension to the fermata in bar 84. All these and other variant readings are employed in the performance in Vol. 56.) Liszt later arranged the work for orchestra, in D minor (the instrumentation was made under the composer’s supervision by Franz Döppler, but nevertheless completely reworked by Liszt in the mid-1870s), not to be confused with the familiar orchestral version in C minor made by Müller-Berghaus. Liszt also arranged the orchestral version for piano duet (still in D minor, and not to be confused with the C minor duet version made under Liszt’s supervision by Franz Bendel).

At some time around 1847, Liszt thought to revise the earlier series of Magyar dalok and Magyar rapszódiák in a work he called Zigeuner-Epos, making them more accessible by removing technical obstacles. The partial MS of such a work exists, but it is also overlaid with plans for new musical constructions and suggestions for orchestration. The terminus ante quem of the Hungarian Rhapsodies III-XV must be after the abandonment of the Zigeuner-Epos, and so the probable period of composition of these Rhapsodies, which were all published in 1853, is likely to be no earlier than 1848. Material from the earlier set of twenty-two pieces is selected to form the present thirteen.

Gárdonyi suggests that, although the origin of the themes of Rapsodie hongroise III is unknown, they are probably untraced melodies of Hungarian and Rumanian character, respectively. This quietly noble piece does not contain a faster section. Rapsodie hongroise IV begins with an unidentified Hungarian recruiting dance, and the second theme is a dance by Antal Csermák, as is the theme of the fast section. Rapsodie hongroise V—Héroïde-élégiaque is a deeply-felt elegy with proud but restrained grandeur and, like Rhapsody III, it lacks a faster concluding section. It is apparently based on a work by Joseph Koschovitz, although the present work is already so different from Liszt’s earlier version that we must by now be dealing with virtually an original composition. (This work was also later issued for orchestra and for piano duet.)

The very popular warhorse, Rapsodie hongroise VI, is a four-movement piece based on Hungarian songs and dances mostly of unknown authorship, although the first melody was originally called Chlopiczky. Liszt notated the theme himself, as he did the theme of the short second section (in 1840), although that theme appeared in a folk-song collection in 1843. The slow song theme of the third section (by Ádám Pálóczi Horváth) was published in 1813, and Liszt first used it in the so-called Rumanian Rhapsody (see Vol. 29); the fourth theme may be seen in the handwritten collection of Hungarian themes held in the Goethe-Schiller Archive, left to Liszt by his relation by marriage János Liszt: the Nagy potpourri. (This Rhapsody, too, was later arranged for orchestra and for piano duet.)

Rapsodie hongroise VII is based on three traditional Hungarian songs which appeared in print between 1833 and 1853, but it is unclear what Liszt’s sources were, since he had already used all of the material by 1846. This concise work is notable for its intensity of expression, above all in its use of Hungarian ornaments, and for its marvellous coda with its descending whole-tone scale in common chords. Rapsodie hongroise VIII is a similar work of gentler mien. Liszt collected all the themes himself in 1846. The first theme is called Káka töven költ a ruca (‘The duck is brooding in the bulrushes’)—composer unknown—but the second theme, heard when the music moves to F sharp major, is a Csárdás by Márk Rószsavölgyi. The third theme—of the final fast section—is of unknown origin, but Brahms later used it in the third of his Hungarian Dances.

Rapsodie hongroise IX—Le carnaval de Pest is a reworking of Pester Carneval, S242/22 (see Vol. 29) although it does not use the coda from that work, which is employed in Rhapsody XIV. All of the themes in this splendid work were notated by Liszt in 1846, and none of them was printed in any folk-music collection until after the publication of Liszt’s first version of the piece. Nothing is known of the titles or composers of any of the melodies, although there is a verbal tradition, passed to the present writer some 27 years ago by Maestro Guido Agosti, who had been told it by Ferruccio Busoni: the little theme first heard at bar 12 in the introduction, and later developed at length in five-bar phrases in the finale, represents a young girl impatient to dance with abandon, but constantly being restrained by her (wise) grandfather. This work probably postdates the version for piano trio (since it contains the original ending), and it was later arranged for orchestra and for piano duet.

Rapsodie hongroise X is based on the piano piece Fogadj Isten (‘God be with you’) by Béni Egressy, the Rhapsody’s dedicatee. (Egressy’s two-page piece is published in the Liszt Society Journal, 1995, in Gárdonyi’s article.) But Liszt turns a trifle into a very imposing work, full of ornament and imitation of folk instruments, especially the cimbalom, to which he devotes a long page of musing in the middle of the traditional fast section. The ensuing pages of glissando have an alternative text that is much closer to Egressy’s piece—this version is recorded in Vol. 56.

The origins of the four themes of the popular Rapsodie hongroise XI have not been identified: the first is a very ornamental song, with some of Liszt’s most delicate writing, always in imitation of the cimbalom. The proud theme which follows is probably a recruiting dance, and the fast conclusion is in the style of a very lightfooted csárdás, but contains a witty variant of the opening theme before the all-too-brief final theme—Prestissimo. By this point, the A minor of the opening, which has moved through A major to F sharp minor, is abandoned for the coup de génie of F sharp major.

Rapsodie hongroise XII is much more than a potpourri, even though it is thematically the richest of the Rhapsodies, with eight distinct themes. The introduction already presents two, which come from a csárdás by Rószavölgyi. These are reintroduced immediately in the piece proper, before an ensuing Allegro zingarese whose melody is of uncertain origin. The second theme of this section, with its baroque ornaments, is also unknown outside this Rhapsody. The first themes return in some grandeur, and a trill leads us to an Allegretto giocoso, the material of which is developed from the friss of a Fantasy by Egressy. The concluding Stretta begins with an untraced theme, but the next theme, with its alternating high- and low-pitched phrases, is referred to as Szegedy csárdás in the Nagy potpourri. As the music hurries to a close three of the earlier themes reappear in the space of just a few bars, and manage to tie the work together at a stroke. This piece—always amongst the most popular of the Rhapsodies—was also arranged for orchestra and for piano duet.

Rapsodie hongroise XIII has always been regarded, like number XI, as something of a connoisseur’s piece, so clearly is its virtuosity placed at the service of its musical poetry. After the melancholic introduction, the first theme comes from a song in the Szerdehalyi edition from the early 1840s, and the second theme, with its three-bar phrases and rising sevenths, comes from just the introduction to a traditional song first printed in 1846. The fast section opens with a theme apparently derived from a song in the Pannonia collection, known also through Sarasate’s use of it in Zigeunerweisen. The next theme, Un poco meno vivo, was printed in a different form in a Csárdás of 1848, but Liszt’s version may have come first. (A similar theme appears in the early Sonata for violin and piano of Bartók [1903].) The theme that arrives hard on its heels has since become very popular in Hungary, but may also originate with Liszt. The first of these themes is now varied in a notorious passage of repeated notes, and the music accelerates with the aid of the first of the fast themes to the coda, based on the third and first of them. At one point Liszt thought of introducing a cadenza in octaves just before the coda—based on the very opening of the work—but wisely thought better of it at the proof stage. (It is printed in the Neue Liszt-Ausgabe.)

Rapsodie hongroise XIV is exceedingly well-known, since it also exists for orchestra, for piano duet and, with the addition of further material from the Magyar dalok/rapszódiák, is the basis of the Hungarian Fantasy for piano and orchestra (see Vol. 53b). The opening march in the minor is Liszt’s variant of the melody which first properly appears at bar 25—Allegro eroico—in the major. In the Liszt literature this theme is always referred to as Mohacs Field, although Gárdonyi makes no reference to this title, merely describing the melody as traditional, and in print from 1847. Liszt had already used it in 1846, so he must have collected it himself. After a florid variation a new theme appears—Poco allegretto (a capriccio)—although fragments of the first theme are constantly interspersed. (This theme is not used in the version for piano and orchestra.) We do not know the origin of this theme, nor that of the succeeding Allegretto alla zingarese, which is itself alternated with yet another unknown theme—Allegro vivace. The first theme returns and the finale is ushered in with a short cadenza. Although all the themes of this finale appeared in various publications from 1847, Liszt had already used them all by 1846. None of them has a traceable title or composer. (The coda, originally from Liszt’s Pester Carneval, is not found in the version for piano and orchestra.)

Rapsodie hongroise XV—Rákóczi-Marsch is the best-known of Liszt’s many versions of this popular national piece, whose origins are unknown and whose name commemorates the Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II (1676–1735), who led the Hungarian revolt against the Habsburgs in the early years of the eighteenth century. Liszt included this piece, one of his so many versions of the march, as a statement of national affiliation to conclude the series of fifteen Rhapsodies. (The versions for orchestra, piano duet, two pianos, and two pianos/eight hands, all relate to a later and much longer working of the same material. [See Vol. 28 for the solo version of this piece].)

So matters stood with the Hungarian Rhapsodies for solo piano in 1853, and so they were to remain for almost three decades.

In late February and in early March, 1882, Liszt wrote to the Baroness von Meyendorff of the festivities in Budapest to honour the visit from Paris of his friend the Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy (1844–1900), and of the new Hungarian Rhapsody that he had composed in personal tribute to Munkácsy. (The actual dedication of the piece is to the festivities rather than the man: A budapesti Munkácsy-ünnepélyekhez.) The piece was printed by 16 March in Budapest with the principal title and the composer’s name in Hungarian. Liszt sent an expanded version of the piece to Budapest from Weimar, and the work was reissued with the same plate numbers (there is a version for piano duet in both printings). The first version is recorded in Volume 56; the second version is recorded here. The music of Magyar rapszódia XVI is entirely Liszt’s, and consists of a short introduction and cadenza, a lassú and a friss, both quite short even in this slightly expanded version.

Magyar rapszódia XVII appeared in print in Budapest in 1885, although it had been prepared for an earlier publication in a supplement to Le Figaro, the Paris newspaper, which the present writer has not been able to trace. At any rate, the early editions of the work are all marked ‘tirée de l’album de Figaro’. A wholly original composition, this Rhapsody is also the strangest of the whole set: it is monothematic—even the stern introduction contains the germ of the theme to come, which duly appears with a change to D major. Although the beginning and ending of the Rhapsody bear a single flat as a key signature, and the piece is usually referred to as being in D minor, the keynote at the end of the introduction and the last note of the piece are both B flat. Actually the note D does not appear in the introduction at all. The scale of the opening bars is, in fact, B flat, C sharp, E, F, G sharp, A, B flat. As the music gathers momentum it moves to F sharp minor, with a hint of F sharp major. It then dissolves through a sort of D minor (with F sharp and B flat), hints at a Hungarian G minor (with C sharp), and finally restricts itself to three notes: B flat, A and C sharp, then just B flat. Extraordinary!

Magyar rapszódia XVIII and Magyar rapszódia XIX were both written in February 1885 and both published in Budapest within a year. The first of these is another wholly original work, composed ‘pour l’Album de l’Exposition de Budapest (1885)—Az Országos Magyar Kiállítás alkalmára (Budapest, 1885)—Anläßlich der ungarischen Ausstellung in Budapest (1885)’. It contains the familiar two sections pared to the minimum, even with the longer final version of the coda, which was probably added at the time of publication. The two earlier drafts are recorded in Volume 56. (The catalogues list a version for piano duet, but it is not to be found to date.) The last Rhapsody returns to the manner of the earlier ones in its use of published material. The dedicatee, Kornel Ábrányi, Sr (1822–1903), is responsible for Liszt’s source material: the Elegáns csárdások (Csárdás nobles). In fact, even the Ábrányi passages selected by Liszt were already arrangements of existing music: Kertem alatt (‘Behind my garden’) is the basis for the slow section of the Rhapsody, and comes from the pen of Béla Mátok, arranged by Ábrányi in Book 2, No 1 of the Elegáns csárdások. The fast section is based on the Sarkantyu (Spur) Csárdás, an arrangement by Ábrányi of the song Rózsa vagy te, rózsa vagy te (‘You are a rose’)—Book 3, No 6 of the Elegáns csárdások. Naturally, Liszt uses the source material only as a springboard to a really original work. (This Rhapsody was also issued in a version for piano duet.) In 1985, on the hundredth anniversary of the composition of the last Rhapsody, Dr Mária Eckhardt made an absolutely stunning facsimile edition of the original MS of Rhapsody XIX, in which she outlines with her customary happy and calm authority the compositional process as shown from the various layers of work in the MS. Would that there were many more such editions! The MS shows a long passage (bars 172–285) marked with repeat signs in red crayon, but with the added marking in ink ‘Die Wiederholung ad libitum’. All of the editions consulted actually print the repeated bars out in full, but they are usually omitted in performance, as they are in this recording. The piece is all the better for the resultant brevity. Leslie Howard © 1999
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