Transcendental Étude No. 12 (Liszt)

The first bar of the Transcendental Étude No. 12

Transcendental Étude No. 12 in B flat minor is an étude for piano written by composer Franz Liszt. It has the programmatic title "Chasse-neige", (impetuous wind which raises whirls of snow) and is the 12th and last of the Transcendental Études. The étude is a study in tremolos but contains many other difficulties like wide jumps and fast chromatic scales, and it requires a very gentle and soft touch in the beginning. The piece gradually builds up to a powerful climax. It is one of the most difficult Transcendental Études, being ranked 9 out of 9 by publisher G. Henle Verlag—one of the five in the series to receive the highest possible difficulty ranking.[1]

Ferruccio Busoni stated the étude was the "noblest example, perhaps, amongst all music of a poetising nature." He described the work as "a sublime and steady fall of snow which gradually buries landscape and people".[2][3]

References

  1. Liszt: Transcendental Studies, Urtext Edition
  2. Ferruccio Busoni (ed.). Franz Liszt: Complete etudes for solo piano. Courier Corporation. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-486-25815-7.
  3. Jim Samson (2007). Virtuosity and the Musical Work: The Transcendental Studies of Liszt. Cambridge University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-139-43621-2.
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