Composed in 1834, Liszt's Grand duo is based on material from threepieces from the first book (op. 19b) of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words (no. 1 in E major, no. 6 in G minor, and no. 3 in A major). While Liszt made analmost literal transcription of the first piece, he gave the second and thirdpieces a much freer arrangement, in the style of concert paraphrases. Thelarge-scale concert piece was premiered by Liszt and Chopin on Christmas Day1834 in a salon in Paris. The Grand duo was not published in Liszt's lifetime,and has survived as a draft.Schubert'sFantasy in C major (also known as the "Wanderer" Fantasy) was a definingmusical experience for the young Liszt. He arranged this masterpiece ofRomantic piano literature for piano and orchestra in 1851, at the beginning ofhis Weimar period, and it was premiered by Julius Egghard in Vienna inDecember of that year. By 1855, Liszt had transcribed this arrangement for twopianos, because it was played on 22 October 1855 at a concert held in Weimarin honour of his birthday. With the version for piano and orchestra, Lisztattuned the fantasy to the requirements of the concert hall, reinforcing theorchestral effects inherent in Schubert's composition. His aim with thetwo-piano version was to achieve a similarly grand effect in spaces too smallfor an orchestra. The arrangement for piano and orchestra appeared in print in1857, followed by the two-piano version in 1862.Thisvolume comes complete with a detailed preface in English, German, andHungarian containing new research findings, several manuscript facsimiles, anda critical report in English.
Composed in 1834, Liszt's Grand duo is based on material from threepieces from the first book (op. 19b) of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words (no. 1 in E major, no. 6 in G minor, and no. 3 in A major). While Liszt made analmost literal transcription of the first piece, he gave the second and thirdpieces a much freer arrangement, in the style of concert paraphrases. Thelarge-scale concert piece was premiered by Liszt and Chopin on Christmas Day1834 in a salon in Paris. The Grand duo was not published in Liszt's lifetime,and has survived as a draft.Schubert'sFantasy in C major (also known as the "Wanderer" Fantasy) was a definingmusical experience for the young Liszt. He arranged this masterpiece ofRomantic piano literature for piano and orchestra in 1851, at the beginning ofhis Weimar period, and it was premiered by Julius Egghard in Vienna inDecember of that year. By 1855, Liszt had transcribed this arrangement for twopianos, because it was played on 22 October 1855 at a concert held in Weimarin honour of his birthday. With the version for piano and orchestra, Lisztattuned the fantasy to the requirements of the concert hall, reinforcing theorchestral effects inherent in Schubert's composition. His aim with thetwo-piano version was to achieve a similarly grand effect in spaces too smallfor an orchestra. The arrangement for piano and orchestra appeared in print in1857, followed by the two-piano version in 1862.Thisvolume comes complete with a detailed preface in English, German, andHungarian containing new research findings, several manuscript facsimiles, anda critical report in English.
