Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies, Vol. 1

Liszt conceived the Hungarian Rhapsodies as a kind of collective national epic. He composed the first in 1846 at the age of 35, and his last in 1885 at the age of 74. Most of his Hungarian Rhapsodies are in the sectional slow-fast form of the gypsy dance known as the csárdás. The Hungarian Rhapsodies remain undisputedly popular today after almost 150 years. In them, however, we find the same contradictions in origin and purpose, the same contrast between serious musicianship and virtuoso exhibitionism, which made Liszt himself so fascinating. There is no doubt that Liszt was devoted to his country, but he was a Hungarian more by enthusiasm than through upbringing or ethnic heritage. He could barely speak the language, for Hungarian came third to German and French at home. He left his native province at the age of nine for the more cosmopolitan cities of Vienna and Paris. When he returned some two decades later he was an international hero in need of a national identity, to be achieved through the special musical language of the Hungarian Rhapsodies.