"La campanella" is the subtitle given to the third of Franz Liszt's six Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141 (1851). It is in the key of G-sharp minor.
The Transcendental Études, S.139, are a set of twelve compositions for piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set, which in turn were – for the most part – an elaboration of a set of studies written in 1826.
Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a solo piano composition. It was composed in 1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none of his unpublished manuscripts be published. The Fantaisie-Impromptu is one of Chopin's most frequently performed and popular compositions.
The Piano Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 35, is a piano sonata in four movements by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Chopin completed the work while living in George Sand's manor in Nohant, some 250 km (160 mi) south of Paris, a year before it was published in 1840. The first of the composer's three mature sonatas, the work is considered to be one of the greatest piano sonatas of the literature.
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, and E♭. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp minor, has six sharps and the double sharp F, which makes it impractical to use.
The Polonaise in A♭ major, Op. 53 for solo piano, was written by Frédéric Chopin in 1842. This composition is one of Chopin's most admired compositions and has long been a favorite of the romantic piano repertoire. Pianist Arthur Rubinstein once called it "the composition which is the closest to my heart." The piece requires exceptional piano skills and great virtuosity to be interpreted at a high degree of proficiency. It is also very physically demanding, and according to his student Adolphe Gutmann, Chopin played it more gently than most performers. The polonaise was dedicated to Auguste Léo, a German banker and friend of Chopin.
Funérailles is the 7th and one of the most famous pieces in Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, a collection of piano pieces by Franz Liszt. It was an elegy written in October 1849 in response to the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 by the Habsburgs.
Arthur Friedheim was a Russian-born concert pianist and composer who was one of Franz Liszt's foremost pupils. One of Friedheim's students was Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn, the mother of 20th-century piano virtuoso Van Cliburn.
Étude Op. 10, No. 5 in G♭ major is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the fifth piece of his Études Op. 10. The work is characterized by the rapid triplet figuration played by the right hand exclusively on black keys, except for one note, an F natural in measure 66. This melodic figuration is accompanied by the left hand with staccato chords and octaves.
Transcendental Étude No. 12 in B♭ minor, "Chasse-neige" (snow-whirls) is the last of twelve Transcendental Études by Franz Liszt. The étude is a study in tremolos but contains many other difficulties like wide jumps and fast chromatic scales, and it requires a very gentle and soft touch in the beginning. The piece gradually builds up to a powerful climax. It is one of the most difficult Transcendental Études, being ranked 9 out of 9 by publisher G. Henle Verlag—one of six in the series to receive the highest possible difficulty ranking.
Transcendental Étude No. 8 in C minor, "Wilde Jagd" is the eighth of twelve Transcendental Études by Franz Liszt.
Transcendental Étude No. 7 in E♭ major, "Eroica" is the seventh of the twelve Transcendental Études by Franz Liszt. It is a study of rapid downward runs, bravura and octaves.
Transcendental Étude No. 9 in A♭ major, "Ricordanza" is the ninth of twelve Transcendental Études by Franz Liszt. It has wild but gentle cadenzas and demands delicate finger work. There are some areas with syncopation similar to Frédéric Chopin's Étude Op. 10, No. 3. This is a good introduction to Liszt's pianistic style.
Étude Op. 10, No. 1 in C major is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1829. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the first piece of his Études Op. 10. This study in reach and arpeggios focuses on stretching the fingers of the right hand. The American music critic James Huneker (1857–1921) compared the "hypnotic charm" that these "dizzy acclivities and descents exercise for eye as well as ear" to the frightening staircases in Giovanni Battista Piranesi's prints of the Carceri d'invenzione. Virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who refused to perform this étude in public, said, "For me, the most difficult one of all is the C Major, the first one, Op. 10, No. 1."
Transcendental Étude No. 2 in A minor, "Molto vivace", is the second of twelve Transcendental Études by Franz Liszt. The occasionally-used alternate title Fusées is not Liszt's own and was not approved by Liszt. It was added by Ferruccio Busoni in his edition of the Études. It is a study in alternating hands, hands overlapping, both hands playing the same note alternatingly, and steep right hand leaps.
Russell Sherman was an American classical pianist, educator and author. He performed internationally, known especially for playing the music of Beethoven and Liszt. Driven by a "lifelong battle to reconstitute Liszt as a serious composer", he wrote for a recording of his Transcendental Études: "The poetic idea is central, and the virtuoso elements become so many layers to orchestrate the poetic content".
Josef Bulva was a Czech pianist.
The Klavierübung, by the Italian pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni, is a compilation of piano exercises and practice pieces, comprising transcriptions of works by other composers and original compositions of his own.
Carlo Grante is an Italian classical pianist. Born in L'Aquila and graduating from the National Academy of St Cecilia in Rome, he performs classical and contemporary classical music. His discography consists of more than 50 albums.
