# Liszt Transcriptions



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Liszt transcribed quite a number of other composers' works for piano - some of them good, some of them pretty horrible.

For example, I was just listening to the video below of his transcription of Saint-Saens _Danse Macabre_ which departs from the original in some respects, but which I quite enjoyed listening to. On the other hand, his transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies seem both pointless and terrible to listen to.

Do you have any favourites?


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## HerlockSholmes (Sep 4, 2011)

Polednice said:


> On the other hand, his transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies seem both pointless and terrible to listen to.


Despite my hatred of Liszt, I actually think he did a pretty good job here:


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Polednice said:


> Liszt transcribed quite a number of other composers' works for piano - some of them good, some of them pretty horrible.
> 
> For example, I was just listening to the video below of his transcription of Saint-Saens _Danse Macabre_ which departs from the original in some respects, but which I quite enjoyed listening to. On the other hand, his transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies seem both pointless and terrible to listen to.
> 
> Do you have any favourites?


Sure. Among them the piano adaptions of the symphonies. They aren't really transcriptions, he pretty much followed the melodies/themes while providing the 'gist' of the other layers in the orchestration. Katsaris put a lot of time and effort into his recordings, and they are very accurate. Idil Biret recorded them in a few days, just before the CD era. Hers are not as accurate, but they have more life - enough life to be an excellent listening experience. I am reasonably familiar with Beethoven's versions, and when I listen to the piano versions there are sufficient 'mental echoes' to satisfy me.

Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert lieder are excellent, and for me are often more enjoyable than the originals. The opera things, not so much. They are from the showboat period of his career, yes?


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

The only one I have is the Naxos CD of Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Ninth for two pianos. I'm not actually sure how good it is--for me it's just a different way of listening to a favourite symphony. I think the first three movements work reasonably well, but the fourth is disappointing, for the unavoidable reason that Beethoven used choir and orchestra to build it up to a climax, and two pianos can't really do that.

I do like Liszt, though, especially the Faust Symphony.


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## HerlockSholmes (Sep 4, 2011)

Fsharpmajor said:


> I do like Liszt, though. *Especially the Faust Symphony.*


Why? Because you've made a deal with the devil?


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## Lelle (Oct 9, 2011)

I love Liszts transcriptions (or rather arrangements) of Bach's organ pieces, for example BWV 543:


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

I own a recording of Mendelssohn's "Songs without words" that uses Liszt transcriptions of Schubert lieder for solo piano as filler.

My favorite is his transcription of the Liebestod from Tristan. It was on Horowitz's "last recording".


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Liszt did transcriptions and arrangements of Berlioz that were pretty effective, including his Harold en Italie, Les francs-juges, La damnation de Faust, and of course Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique (a pretty formidable challenge for piano virtuosos):






As well as his several Berlioz transcriptions and arrangements, he worked with Beethoven, Weber, Mozart, Saint Saens, Verdi, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Rossini, Draeseke, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Glinka, David (Ferdinand David, that is), Hummel, Herbeck, Cui, and Spohr. Not only did he have a deep resume when it came to transcription and arrangement, but he edited a lot of Chopin's works, as well as five other composer's works.

With his transcriptions and arrangements, just like the rest of his work, once you dig around for a while through the more than a little sizable amount of material he produced, you'll find that Liszt was a scholar of a composer. Honestly, I think a lot of his popular pieces come off as garish and soulless because so many performers just aren't creative enough. They see a glissando and think, "video game sound!" instead of humor or rhapsodic mania.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert lieder are excellent, and for me are often more enjoyable than the originals. The opera things, not so much. They are from the showboat period of his career, yes?


Some of the Wagner transcriptions can be pretty showboaty (I haven't heard all of them), but I think they're kind of fun (ex: Tannhauser overture).


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I need to listen to more of Liszt's piano transcriptions, but my favourite so far would be that of Rossini's _La Danza_:


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Skilmarilion said:


> I need to listen to more of Liszt's piano transcriptions, but my favourite so far would be that of Rossini's _La Danza_:


Of transcriptions and fantasies, Liszt composed a gazillion of them. All are good. My personal favorite is his Norma Fantasy.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Skilmarilion said:


> I need to listen to more of Liszt's piano transcriptions, but my favourite so far would be that of Rossini's _La Danza_:


This is a paraphrase from Rossini's "Soiree Musicales", Liszt did all twelve of them.


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## themysticcaveman (Jul 9, 2013)

You need to first understand that the reason Liszt did all those transcriptions is because back in the day orchestra's were only in the big cities and not everyone got to hear the great Beethoven symphonies or Berlioz's symphonie fantastic, so it was a way of getting there music out there, i know that Berlioz got so in debt with his symphonie fantastic and no one would publish it, Liszt transcribed and published it on his own income helping Berlioz and others in the process. so i have to say i appreciate everyone of his piano transcriptions.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Lukecash12 said:


> Liszt did transcriptions and arrangements of Berlioz that were pretty effective, including his Harold en Italie, Les francs-juges, La damnation de Faust, and of course Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique (a pretty formidable challenge for piano virtuosos)


Let's not forget his magnificent transcription/paraphrase/whatever it is from Berlioz Benevenuto Cellini.






But some favourites of mine are Liszt's transcriptions of his own work. Some examples...
















And his marvellous paraphrase, with his own additions/transitions, on Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus and Allegri's Miserere.






In general I think Liszt's transcriptions/fantasies/paraphrases are an astounding, and highly underrated, body of work. They deserve a greater appreciation. An encyclopaedia of amazing pianistic invention and ingenuity, and much highly enjoyable music. Sometimes improving on the originals!


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I can never see why some of the musical establishment is so snooty about Liszt's transcriptions. They are fantastic works of at in their own right and incredibly innovative in terms of piano writing.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

DavidA said:


> I can never see why some of the musical establishment is so snooty about Liszt's transcriptions. They are fantastic works of at in their own right and incredibly innovative in terms of piano writing.


Agreed! It's also interesting to hear the various versions of transcriptions that Liszt published over his lifetime. For example, his transcription of Beethoven's "Adelaide" exists in three manifestations, with the 1841 version being the most elaborated by numerous cadenzas and flourishes. It's fascinating to hear the ideas that Liszt was hammering out in trying to bring a fairly symphonic sound to his piano transcriptions.

Reading Liszt's preface to his Beethoven Symphony transcriptions makes it clear that it was a labor of love for him. Few composers seem to have been so genuinely interested in promoting the works of other great composers: Auber, Spohr, Berlioz, Herbeck, Donizetti, etc. all for the love of music.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

DavidA said:


> I can never see why some of the musical establishment is so snooty about Liszt's transcriptions. They are fantastic works of at in their own right and incredibly innovative in terms of piano writing.


I also think that often (and this goes for some original music too) that the orchestral/operatic sonorities are misunderstood and seen as 'showing off.' In the transcriptions, almost never was this his intention. Some of the operatic fantasies yes (but not Norma or Don Giovanni!).


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

His liebestod transcription is great.






Not a great recording but I like the way Paderewski plays it the best.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

The only Liszt transcriptions I've heard are his Rossini (a Naxos disc which I enjoy a lot) and his 'paraphrase de concert' on the quartet from Rigoletto (a fill-up to a Saint-Saens/Lalo orchestral disc). I was wondering where to go next if I should want to, and the Beethoven symphonies seem to be beckoning if anything. I still find it amazing that he found time to shoehorn all this transcription work in on top of everything else.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

H ave a look at Stargazer's thread "Favorite Piano Transcriptions."


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