Franz Liszt – “La Campanella”

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Franz Liszt – La Campanella, No. 3 in g-sharp minor from Grand Etudes de 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. Paying homage [to] 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 Paganini and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. 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. This later revision was renamed Grandes études de Paganini and dedicated to the virtuoso pianist, Clara Schumann.

Of the six études, the third is likely the most popular and loved of the set. Known by its nickname “La Campanella” (“Little Bell”), it is based on a melody from the last movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor. 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. Technically, the étude is a demanding challenging in large leaps and controlled playing. Throughout the piece, the right hand is frequently call upon to make quick leaps spanning two octaves while the left, at times, must traverse nearly three in an equally short time span. On top of this, Liszt marks the étude Allegretto and the dynamic hardly rises above piano until the coda requiring a strict control over both tempo and volume to achieve the proper musical effect suggested by the étude’s epithet. A sudden change comes in the coda as the music is enlivened with the indication Animato and the dynamic rises dramatically to fortissimo. With full-blooded vigor, the coda provides a sudden contrast to the delicate proceedings before it, yet compliments the piece with an exciting conclusion.     Joseph DuBose – via classicalconnect.com

“La Campanella” – Liszt – WillsKeyboardSink