![]() ![]() It is important to bear in mind also that Liszt was pioneering new piano techniques. In the 1820s and 1830s few people knew and understood Beethoven's works. XV emphasis mine)Ī footnote to the above passage includes: The second motive derived from the first: he wanted to popularize these masterpieces everywhere. (italics original boldface mine)Īs to why Liszt would have included them, the Preface begins:īasically two motives impelled Ferenc Liszt to transcribe for solo piano the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): one was the profound respect he felt. Should you set to engraving the manuscript of the two Symphonies I would ask you to recommend to the engraver that they are engraved with plenty of room because of the fingerings I must add and also because of the complexity of the passages. 1Īnd in the Preface to Supplement 11, which contains symphonies 5-7, Liszt himself is quoted from a letter to the transcriptions' publisher: In the pieces, Liszt's original fingering is given everywhere. In particular, this quotation from the "General Preface" to the series: The edition is very strict in adhering to Liszt's original markings. The Neue Liszt-Ausgabe is a scholarly edition intended especially for musicologists studying Liszt's compositional process and style. Here is the passage given in OP "sample 1" from the Neue Liszt-Ausgabe edition (1993) (mvmt 4, mm. Why did Liszt put fingerings in his transcription of Beethoven's Ninth?įirst, it's important to establish whether the fingerings are given by Liszt, which they are. ![]() In the interest of keeping this post focused, I'll just address the specific question of. I wonder which of these theories is right, if any, and/or if there's other benefit to adding finger markings to virtuosic piano pieces. Following the specified fingerings does result in a slight difference in pronunciation of each note compared to alternate fingerings that one might choose, and this difference is something Liszt wanted to specify.This piece is so long that it is meant to be sight-read for the most part, and finger markings speed that process up.Liszt just loved being explicit about fingerings, just like he loved adding ossia's.I wonder why you would add extensive fingering notations to a piece that's clearly only for the very best of pianists, who would presumably no longer need them. Which is why it kind of confused me to see fingering markings, not just in a few parts but all over the place. This thing is over an hour long with numerous technical feats and is surely something only an incredibly skilled pianist would even dare to try out. A must have for any music collection.I was watching along with an entertaining video of Liszt's solo piano transcription of Beethoven's 9th symphony. This album won Perlmutter his first Grammy Award Nomination and was designated an American Library Association "Notable Recording." Beethoven's Wig is a timeless classic. "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" said Pulse Magazine. At the end of the vocal renditions, each piece is performed without the words by a world-class orchestra, just as it was originally written. And for kids, parents and teachers there are activities to supplement the songs. Other favorites are "Just For Elise," in which Perlmutter rhymes everything with the name of one of Beethoven's many girlfriends, and "Please Don't Play Your Violin at Night," about Mozart's never ceasing desire to write and play music.Īs a bonus (one that's included in every Beethoven's Wig album), there are trivia questions about the pieces and the composers. There's "Beethoven's Wig" - a description the old master's giant hairpiece set to the immortal "5th Symphony." And "Tchaikovsky's Cannonball," the story of the "big bang" the composer made when he brought a cannon to a performance of his "1812 Overture." Also included is the song that audiences dance along to at every Beethoven's Wig concert, the famous "Can You Can Can?" set to the famous Can Can by Offenbach. On this album are some of Perlmutter's finest gems. It features Richard Perlmutter's witty, irreverent and hilarious lyrics set to some of the world greatest masterpieces of classical music. ![]()
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