Hungarian Rhapsodies

Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle class, or by composers such as József Kossovits, often played by Roma (Gypsy) bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different tempo. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation—the lassan ("slow") and the friska ("fast"). At the same time, Liszt incorporated a number of effects unique to the sound of Gypsy bands, especially the pianistic equivalent of the cimbalom. He also makes much use of the Hungarian gypsy scale. ==Arranged versions==

Nos. 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, and 14 were arranged for orchestra by Franz Doppler, with revisions by Liszt himself. These orchestrations appear as S.359 in the Searle catalogue; however, the numbers given to these versions were different from their original numbers. The orchestral rhapsodies numbered 1–6 correspond to the piano solo versions numbered 14, 2, 6, 12, 5 and 9 respectively. In 1874, Liszt also arranged the same six rhapsodies for piano duet (S.621). In 1882, he made a piano duet arrangement of No. 16 (S.622), and in 1885, a piano duet version of No. 18 (S.623) and No. 19 (S.623a). Liszt also arranged No. 9 (S.379) for piano, violin and cello and No. 12 (S.379a) for piano and violin. No. 14 was also the basis of Liszt's Hungarian Fantasia for piano and orchestra, S.123. ==List of the Hungarian Rhapsodies==

The set is as follows: The first two were published in the year 1851, nos. 3–15 in 1853, and the last four were published in 1882 and 1886. ==References==