Hungarian Rhapsodies
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The Hungarian Rhapsodies, (S/G244, R106) Rapsodies hongroises or Ungarische Rhapsodien) are a set of pieces of music by Franz Liszt, originally for solo piano. The set is as follows:
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 in E major
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 3 in B-flat minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 4 in E-flat major
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5 in E minor, Héroďde-élégiaque
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D-flat major
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 7 in D minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 8 in F-sharp minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 in E-flat major, Le carnaval de Pest
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 in E major
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 in A minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C-sharp minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in A minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 14 in F major
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 in A minor, Rákóczi-Marsch
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 16 in A minor, Magyar rhapsodia
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 17 in D minor
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 18 in F-sharp minor, Magyar rhapsodia
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 in D minor, d'aprčs les 'Csárdás nobles' de K. Ábrányi (sr) (1885)
The first fifteen were published in the 1853, with the last four being added in the 1882 and 1885. Numbers 14, 12, 6, 2, 5 and 9 were arranged by Liszt for orchestra, and number 14 was also the basis of Liszt's Hungarian Fantasia for piano and orchestra. Some are better known than others, with number 2 being particularly famous.
Liszt incorporated many themes which he had heard in his native Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, but which were in fact tunes written by contemporary composers, often played by Roma bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different tempo.
In their original solo piano form, the Hungarian Rhapsodies are noted for their difficulty (Liszt was a virtuoso pianist as well as a composer).
The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor is particularly well known, due to its frequent use in animated cartoons. It made an early appearance, as one of several classical pieces, in Disney's Farmyard Symphony (1938). However, it became a permanent part of cartoon history with its use in Friz Freleng's Rhapsody in Rivets (1941), where the construction of a skyscraper is synchronized to the rhapsody. Freleng used the piece in several other Warner Brothers cartoons, most notably Rhapsody Rabbit (1946), which featured Bugs Bunny as a concert pianist playing the solo piano version. (In one scene in the cartoon, a telephone, conveniently placed inside the piano, rang. Bugs answered, listened a moment, and replied, "Who? Franz Liszt? Never heard of him. Wrong number.") However, controversy followed this short's release. Within weeks, MGM released Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera's Tom and Jerry short, The Cat Concerto, featuring an almost identical plot, and the same Hungarian Rhapsody, being played by Tom the cat this time. Freleng was convinced that MGM stole the idea from him, and Hanna and Barbera were just as convinced that they were the victims of plagiarism. Freleng continued to use the piece, though, featuring it in Back Alley Oproar (1948) and in an animated sequence for the Doris Day movie My Dream Is Yours. In the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, director Robert Zemeckis pays tribute to "Number 2"'s cartoon heritage by using the piece for the "deuling pianos" scene featuring Daffy Duck and Donald Duck. Warner Brothers also used it in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode C Flat or B Sharp? (1990).
External links
- Free MP3 of #2 (http://www.download.com/seanbennett) by Sean Bennett
- Jason Flatley, A Reexamination of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody (http://www.math.jhu.edu/~flatley/wordsfiles/HR2.html)