The Two Concert Etudes (German title: Zwei Konzertetüden) are two popular piano pieces by Franz Liszt (Forest Murmurs, Dance of the Gnomes). Their index number is S.145. The pieces were written in 1862–1863, and the sheet music was published in 1863. His recommendation was addressed to his student, Dionys Pruckner.

Origin

Franz Liszt composed the two pieces in 1862–1863, in Rome, while he was a resident of the Madonna del Rosario monastery. He wrote the etudes on commission for the piano school of Sigismund Lebert and Ludwig Stark. Although etudes usually serve didactic purposes, this was not the case with Liszt (and Chopin). These etudes – despite being written for music school purposes – are not simple practice pieces, but improvisational, poetic piano character pieces that require serious instrument knowledge.

The sheet music for the pieces was published by Cotta in 1863. Liszt dedicated it to his dear student, the pianist and teacher Dionys Pruckner (1834–1896). Pruckner accompanied Liszt to the August 1856 premiere of the Esztergom Mass, and even performed as a pianist at the concert held at the National Theatre in Pest on 8 September (this was also the premiere of Liszt's symphonic poem Hungaria, conducted by Liszt).

The music

Liszt wrote these two piano etudes at a time when he was already preparing to write "serious", clear, and unglamorous church works in Rome. However, in these etudes he still expressed his interest in the romantic piano sound and the magic of color, and these pieces are among Liszt's impressionistic pieces. Both are program music, but they are not related to any event, but depict feelings and moods. They are significantly more than school pieces made for practice; they surpass the simple technical purpose with a higher artistic content and require virtuoso skills from the performer.

1. Waldesrauschen

Waldesrauschen is one of Liszt's most popular piano pieces. In the 4/4 Etude in D flat major, he depicts the bending of trees in the wind and the rustling of leaves in a truly impressionistic manner, with which Liszt was practically ahead of his time (Debussy began writing similar ones decades later). It is an improvisational piece, with a single, relatively short theme running through it. Its formal structure is three-part (A, B, A variant), but even the two extreme A members are three-part. It is an airy, delicate piece, only more lively in the middle part.

2. Dance of the Gnomes (Gnomenreigen)

Klára Hamburger compares the piece in F sharp minor to the airy scherzos of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. “But these elves are more witty, more goblin-like, more ironic than Mendelssohn’s fairies; their elegant devaism does not lack the demonic element,” she writes. It is built on the alternation of two contrasting themes, the meter also varies, and the performer’s instructions are varied: leggierissimo, velocissimo, vivacissimo, il più presto possibile, staccatissimo.

Source: https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Két_hangverseny-etűd_(Liszt) / License: CC BY-SA 4.0