Virtuosity in piano works of Franz Liszt in the Weimar period : the final versions of transcendantal and Paganini studies

Regardless of many styles, ideas, and trends in the history of music, which have existed so far, only some composers and performers have been known world-wide and will continue to be recognized by future generations. Franz Liszt is one of them and one of the representative musicians, both as a pianist and a composer, of the Romantic Era. Liszt was a true romantic. Liszt's music resembles his romantic and dramatic life' and he was the most distinguished virtuoso pianist in the Romantic Era, as a composer, he left many virtuosic works, especially for piano solo. There is no doubt that hundreds of his piano compositions were written so that he could give performances by himself. Liszt was the incomparable virtuoso of his time and is still regarded as a legend. However, not all his compositions exhibit technically amazing or stunning showmanship as some critics would Claim about his music. His works for solo piano include lyrical pieces with his own particular style or in styles influenced by Chopin and other contemporaries.2 He developed a rich harmonic vocabulary, which was called for in his religious works as well as in other works. This thesis will examine Liszt's virtuosity focusing on selected compositions written during his Weimar period, which make him the greatest master of piano music in the Romantic Era, and, which remain even today, a controversial topic. It will begin with an examination of the piano itself and virtuosity in the nineteenth century, in order to provide a historical context for Liszt and his keyboard technique. It will then move on to discuss Liszt's musicality and the background to his compositions. Finally, this thesis will draw upon the information about Liszt's musical virtuosity and the historical development of new piano techniques through analysis of key pieces from Liszt's Weimar period. These pieces are the third version of Transcendental Etudes No. 10 Allegro agitato molto as studies; the second version of La Campanella, Paganini Etudes No. 2 as studies and transcriptions. These pieces will be analysed firstly, to show that Liszt's virtuosity and command of technique were unique and secondly that he was successful in expressing the sound and texture of orchestral music through the medium of the piano, which was one of his chief ambitions.