The Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244, R.106, are a set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846–1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt also arranged versions for orchestra, piano duet and piano trio.
Csárdás, often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from csárda. It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary as well as neighboring countries and regions such as of Slovenia, Burgenland, Croatia, Transylvania, Slovakia and Moravia, as well as among the Banat Bulgarians, including those in Bulgaria.
Verbunkos, other spellings being Verbounko, Verbunko, Verbunkas, Werbunkos, Werbunkosch, Verbunkoche; sometimes known simply as the hongroise or ungarischer Tanz is an 18th-century Hungarian dance and music genre.
Nóta is a form of 19th-century Hungarian popular song. It is one of a number of styles collectively referred to as cigányzene, which literally means Gipsy music but is used to refer to a number of styles of Hungarian folk music that are played in a typical Gipsy musical style. Nóta includes a variety of tempi, from uptempo friss csárdás via a medium time "Palotas" to slow dramatic tempo rubato ballads.
Hungarian folk music includes a broad array of Central European styles, including the recruitment dance verbunkos, the csárdás and nóta. It is characterised by complex melodic patterns, rhythmic diversity, ornamentalisation and the use of a distinctive blend of traditional instruments. Instruments traditionally used in Hungarian folk music include the citera, cimbalom, cobza, doromb, duda, kanászkürt, mandolin, tárogató, tambourine, tambura, tekero and ütőgardon.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, published in 1851, and is by far the most famous of the set.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 in C-sharp minor/E major is the first of a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, dedicated to one of his friends and former student, Ede Szerdahelyi. Work on the piece began in 1846 in Klausenburg, and it was published about November 1851. The piece, like many in the set, is composed in the csárdás style, signified by two sections: the lassú and the friss. Some parts, as the beginning and the trill, resemble the Piano Sonata No. 32 (Beethoven). Also typical for the set, themes in the piece can be traced to earlier sources, specifically Ferenc Erkel and Gáspár Bernát in the first section, and Károly Thern in the second. The gypsy Laci Pócsi and his band are said to have been a source of inspiration for this piece.
Lassan or more properly lassú ("slow") is the slow section of the csárdás, a Hungarian folk dance, or of most of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, which take their form from this dance. It generally either has a dark, somber tone or a formal, stately one.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 is the sixth work of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies composed by Franz Liszt for piano. Liszt composed the piano version in D-flat major. He did not compose orchestral arrangements for any of the Hungarian Rhapsodies.
The three csárdás that Franz Liszt wrote in 1881–82 and 1884 are solo piano pieces based on the Hungarian dance form of the same name. Liszt treats the dance form itself much less freely than he did much earlier with the verbunkos in the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and the material itself remains more specifically Hungarian than gypsy in thematic material. Their spare lines, angular rhythms and advanced harmonies show these pieces to be direct ancestors of the compositions of Béla Bartók. Because of these attributes, the csárdás are considered by Liszt scholars among the more interesting of the composer's late output.
The Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Melodies, commonly known in short form simply as the Hungarian Fantasy, is Franz Liszt's arrangement for piano and orchestra of his Hungarian Rhapsody No. 14, originally for solo piano. The Fantasia was written in 1852 and premiered in Pest on June 1, 1853, with Hans von Bülow as soloist and Ferenc Erkel conducting the orchestra.
"Csárdás" is a rhapsodical concert piece by the Italian composer Vittorio Monti. Written in 1904, the folkloric piece is based on a Hungarian csárdás. It was originally composed for violin, mandolin, or piano. There are arrangements for orchestra and for a number of solo instruments. "Csárdás" is about four-and-a-half minutes in duration.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 (S.244/19) in D minor is the last of a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. It was written in 1885.
Rhapsody No. 1, Sz. 86, 87, and 88, BB 94 is the first of two virtuoso works for violin and piano, written by Béla Bartók in 1928 and subsequently arranged in 1929 for violin and orchestra, as well as for cello and piano. It is dedicated to Hungarian virtuoso violinist Joseph Szigeti, a close friend of Bartók, who gave the first performance of the orchestra version in Königsberg on 1 November 1929, with Hermann Scherchen conducting the orchestra.
Rhapsody No. 2, Sz. 89 and 90, BB 96, is the second of two virtuoso works for violin and piano, subsequently arranged with orchestra accompaniment, written by Béla Bartók. It was composed in 1928 and orchestrated in 1929. The orchestral version was revised in 1935, and the version with piano in 1945. It is dedicated to Hungarian violinist Zoltán Székely, who later became the first violinist of the Hungarian String Quartet in 1937, two years after the founding of the ensemble.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 8, S.244/8, in F-sharp minor, is the eighth Hungarian Rhapsody composed by Franz Liszt for solo piano. It was composed in 1847 and published in 1853. It has been nicknamed "Capriccio". It utilizes a melody of Hungarian folk song Káka tövén költ a ruca in the slow section. The allegro motif was also used by Liszt in his symphonic poem Hungaria (1856).
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9, S.244/9, in E-flat major, is the ninth Hungarian Rhapsody by Franz Liszt. It is nicknamed the "Carnival in Pest" or "Pesther Carneval" and was composed in 1847. A typical performance of the piece lasts ten minutes.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, S.244/13, in A minor, is the thirteenth Hungarian Rhapsody by Franz Liszt. One of the lesser performed works of Liszt, the friska section starts with a theme used by the well-known Allegro molto vivace from Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate. At the end, it quotes the authentic Hungarian folk song Nem, nem, nem, nem megyünk mi innen el.
