Transcendental Etudes

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The Transcendental Etudes (sometimes Études d'exécution transcendante or Transcendental Studies) is a series of twelve compositions written for solo piano by Franz Liszt, begun in 1826 and finalized in 1851.

The first version of the etudes was published in 1826 under the title Étude en douze exercices, when Liszt was 15 years old. In 1837, a second version, Douze Grandes Etudes, was published simultaneously in Paris, Milan and Vienna. The third and final version (the most often recorded version) was published in 1852 (indexed as S139) and dedicated to Carl Czerny, a composer and one of Liszt’s piano teachers.

The etudes, particularly in their second-version form, are among the most difficult pieces for piano ever written. Robert Schumann declared that they were playable [at the time] by "at the most, ten or twelve players in the world". Liszt realized that his virtuoso piano technique, which influenced the composition of the etudes, was virtually unsurpassable; consequently the etudes in their final form are less difficult, but still pose incredible physical and technical demands for the performer. The fifth étude, "Feux Follets", is among the most demanding of the set.

The twelve Transcendental Etudes are arranged as follows:

• No. 1 in C, "Preludio"; A fast piece to be played like an improvisation
• No. 2 in A minor, "Molto Vivace", or "Fusées" (Rockets)
• No. 3 in F, "Paysage" (Landscape)
• No. 4 in D minor, "Mazeppa"
• No. 5 in B-flat, "Feux follets" (Will o' the wisp)
• No. 6 in G minor, "Vision"
• No. 7 in E-flat, "Eroica" (Heroic)
• No. 8 in C minor, "Wilde Jagd" (Wild Hunt)
• No. 9 in A-flat, "Ricordanza" (Remembrance)
• No. 10 in F minor, "Allegro Agitato", or "Appassionata"
• No. 11 in D-flat, "Harmonies du soir" (Evening harmonies)
• No. 12 in B-flat minor, "Chasse-neige" ("Snow-drifting wind", or "Blizzard")

Liszt added these programmatic titles himself (most of them in French), except for numbers 2 and 10 which he left as "Molto Vivace" and "Allegro Agitato" respectively. The titles "Fusées" and "Appassionata" were assigned to these works at a later time and are not commonly used, the original titles by Liszt, "Molto Vivace" and "Allegro Agitato", are generally used instead.

A thorough comparison of the Transcendental Etudes' three versions can be found in Conway, James Bryant. Musical Sources for the Liszt études d'exécution transcendante: A Study in the Evolution of Liszt's Compositional and Keyboard Techniques. D.M.A., Performance, University of Arizona, 1969.

Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt v • d • e
No. 1 "Preludio" • No. 2 "Fusées" • No. 3 "Paysage" • No. 4 "Mazeppa" • No. 5 "Feux follets" • No. 6 "Vision" No. 7 "Eroica" • No. 8 "Wilde Jagd" • No. 9 "Ricordanza" • No. 10 "Appassionata" • No. 11 "Harmonies du soir" • No. 12 "Chasse-neige"