In Hungarian Rhapsodies, Ferenc Liszt was able to embody the unique beauty of the culture of this country. It is believed that this composer became the founder of a new genre. Nevertheless, earlier the Czech musician Tomaszek called some of his own creations. Ferenc throughout his life retained respect for the homeland.
History of creation
The creator of the “Hungarian Rhapsodies” Liszt is the creator of the genre, since he managed to develop a specific structure of the works and classify their characteristic features. Tomaszek had compositions that did not have similarities and logical grounds. Ferenc Liszt did not live in Hungary, his fate was connected with other European countries.
At the same time, he often recalled his childhood, while the boy listened for hours to gypsy folk songs. The composer was prompted to create rhapsodies by a certain historical event that was connected with Hungary. A revolution took place in the native land of the musician, aimed at combating the feudal-landlord system of the Austrian authorities.
The uprising, unfortunately, did not triumph; it was crushed with particular cruelty. Hungary again became part of Austria. The patriotic soul of the musician was struck by this fact. Then he had his first ideas related to the creation of rhapsodies for Hungarian folk melodies. In total, Liszt composed 19 such works.
He wrote the first rhapsody in 1851. Until 1853, the musician created 13 more works. In 1882, he demonstrated 16 rhapsody. Three years later, three more works appeared. Subsequently, Liszt, together with Doppler, created orchestral versions for some of the numbers.
Specific traits
Liszt's “Hungarian Rhapsodies” are piano works based on the tunes and national motives of Hungary. The composition is concert, its melody has a homophonic-harmonic warehouse. Here there is an abundance of melismas: trills, lifting forks and other musical decorations. The accompaniment in this case is dashed.
Interesting Facts
Rhapsody number 2 sounds in a computer game called "The Adventures of the Muppet Monster", released in 2000. The composer is Hungarian by nationality, but did not know his native language and spoke exclusively German.
In 15 rhapsodies, the author cited a revolutionary Hungarian song called "Rakoczi-march." This composition is an example of a verbunco style. In Budapest, List realized himself as the first president of a national music academy.