For almost five decades, Franz Liszt wrote music that incorporated Hungarian elements and celebrated his country’s musical idioms. One of the most famous of these pieces was the Rákóczi March, two different versions of which can be heard in this album, the first in full sonata form, and the second in a more concise version. Liszt often utilised the verbunkos tradition as he does in Magyar dallok along with infectious dulcimer evocations, folk scales, drama and melancholy. Two contrasting versions of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 – Magyar tempo and Célèbre mélodie hongroise – round out this evocative Hungarian selection.
01. Rákóczi-Marsch nach der Orchesterbearbeitung, S. 244a
02. Magyar dallok, Book I, S. 242: No. 1, Lento
03. Magyar dallok, Book I, S. 242: No. 2, Andantino
04. Magyar dallok, Book I, S. 242: No. 3, Sehr langsam
05. Magyar dallok, Book I, S. 242: No. 4, Animato
06. Magyar dallok, Book I, S. 242: No. 5, Tempo giusto
07. Magyar dallok, Book I, S. 242: No. 6, Lento
08. Magyar dallok, Book II, S. 242: No. 7, Andante cantabile
09. Magyar dallok, Book III, S. 242: No. 8, Lento
10. Magyar dallok, Book III, S. 242: No. 9, Lento
11. Magyar dallok, Book IV, S. 242: No. 10, Adagio sostenuto a capriccio
12. Magyar dallok, Book IV, S. 242: No. 11, Andante sostenuto
13. Ungarische Nationalmelodie, Rákóczi-Marsch, S. 242-13a (Erleichtert)
14. Magyar tempo, S. 241b
15. Célèbre mélodie hongroise, S. 243a