Technically, the étude is a demanding challenging in large leaps and controlled playing. Liszt subjects Paganini’s theme to constant ornamentation which, most prominently, consists of notes along the upper part of the keyboard to imitate the tinkling sound of a little bell. Known by its nickname “La Campanella” (“Little Bell”), it is based on a melody from the last movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.
Of the six études, the third is likely the most popular and loved of the set. This later revision was renamed Grandes études de Paganini and dedicated to the virtuoso pianist, Clara Schumann. The original six études Liszt composed, known as the Études d’exécution transcendante d’après Paganini and assembled in 1838, were revised later in 1851.
Paying homage Paganini, Liszt set out to compose a set of études on Paganini’s melodies and, along with Robert Schumann, established a tradition that has lasted even to the present day and includes such astonishing pieces as Johannes Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Pagaini and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. As an up-and-coming artist in Paris, Franz Liszt was a great admirer of Niccolò Paganini, whose seemingly superhuman abilities on the violin inspired him to attain equally astonishing feats on the piano.
0 kommentar(er)
