3 Etudes de concert (1848)

First published in Leipzig as Etudes de concert, with no titles attached to the individual pieces, these three “concert studies” were later issued in Paris as Caprices poétiques and presented as Lamento, La leggierezza and Un sospiro respectively. Although the descriptive titles derive almost certainly not from Liszt himself but from a publisher who thought they would sell better as poetic inspirations than as technical studies, they are worth retaining. They are apt enough descriptions of the nature of three pieces which are, indeed, as poetically engaging as they are technically challenging.

In writing the studies Liszt set a challenge not only for the pianist but also for himself, restricting the material for each piece to just one short theme. Lamento (Lament) is based on no more than the four descending notes first heard in the opening bars, before the cadenza that leads into the main Allegro cantabile section. It is true that two variants assume particularly prominent roles, one acting as a kind of second subject and the other motivating an emphatically climactic middle section. But even as other variants multiply, the basic four-note thematic cell – which is heard for the last time in a recall of the opening cadenza and a short coda – is always recognisable.

At less than half the length of the first piece, La leggierezza (Lightness) is based on a theme not unlike that of Chopin’s first Impromptu Op. 29. As a study, it relates to Chopin also in its resemblance to the Etude in F minor Op.25 No.2, although, whereas Chopin retains the same quaver triplets throughout, Liszt diversifies into the skittering semiquavers and demisemiquavers that gave the piece its unofficial title. Much the best known of the three pieces, Un sospiro (A sigh) is sustained by the expressive and melodic potential of the eight-note theme on which it is based, whether picked out by the right hand or thundered out by the left against a variously coloured background of rolling arpeggios.

First published in Leipzig as Etudes de concert, with no titles attached to the individual pieces, these three “concert studies” were later issued in Paris as Caprices poétiques and presented as Lamento, La leggierezza and Un sospiro respectively. Although those descriptive titles almost certainly derive not from Liszt himself but from a publisher who thought they would sell better as poetic inspirations than as technical studies, they are worth retaining. They are apt enough descriptions of the nature of three pieces which are, indeed, as poetically engaging as they are technically challenging.

In writing the studies Liszt set a challenge not only for the pianist but also for himself, restricting the material for each piece to just one short theme. Lamento (Lament) – which, as the longest of them, lasts nearly ten minutes – is based on no more than the four descending notes first heard in A flat major in the opening bars, before the cadenza that leads into the main Allegro cantabile section. It is true that, as it passes through an extraordinary sequence of often distantly related keys, the theme is constantly varied and that two of the variants assume particularly prominent roles. One, extended by repeated notes and introduced con intimo sentimento in G major, acts as a kind of second subject. The other, approached by three rising notes in D sharp major and later transferred to the bottom end of the keyboard, motivates an emphatically climactic middle section. But even as the variants multiply, not least in a far from literal reprise of the first main section, the basic four-note thematic cell is always recognisable. It is heard for the last time in a recall of the opening cadenza and a short, peacefully reconciled coda.

At less than half the length of the first piece, La leggierezza (Lightness) is based on a theme – introduced in F minor after the chromatically capricious opening bars – not unlike that of Chopin’s first Impromptu Op. 29. As a study, it relates to Chopin also in its resemblance to the Etude in F minor Op.25 No.2, although, whereas Chopin retains the same quaver triplets throughout, Liszt diversifies into the skittering semiquavers and demisemiquavers that gave the piece its unofficial title. Much the best known of the three pieces, Un sospiro (A sigh) is sustained by the expressive and melodic potential of the eight-note theme on which it is based, whether picked out by the right hand or thundered out by the left against a variously coloured background of rolling arpeggios.