AMBITION
Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff
PIANO
Favorite Instrument
Favorite Piece
Demarcation Line
FRANZ LISZT
Born October 22, 1811
Died July 31, 1886
EARLY LIFE
Born in Hungary
Only child
Learned to play piano from his father
Age 6 – recognized as a prodigy
Age 9 – composing music, performing
LISZTOMANIA!

Liszt – sex-symbol celebrity – click here!

Liszt and the
Ladies
Settling Down
SERGEI
VASSILIEVICH
RACHMANINOFF
Born: April 1, 1873
Died: March 18, 1943
EARLY LIFE
Born in Russia
Five siblings
Wealthy, musical parents
Sister died
Parents separated
MOSCOW
Student of Nikolai Zverev
at the Moscow Conservatory
Russia
Denmark
New York
RACHMANINOFF
& LISZT
MUSIC ANALYSIS
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Composed by Franz Liszt – Performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Lassan
0:01 – 6:08
Stately, Beautiful, Melancholy
Friska
6:08 – 10:31
Bright, Fast, Fun
Rachmaninoff’s Cadenza
10:31 – 13:20
Minor key, Russian sound, Technically Amazing
End
13:20 – 13:42
Return to Major key
Big Chords
End
“
My piano is to me what a ship is to the sailor, what a steed
is to the Arab. It is the intimate personal depository of
everything that stirred wildly in my brain during the most
impassioned days of my youth. It was there that all my
wishes, all my dreams, all my joys, and all my sorrows lay.
Franz Liszt
1811 – 1886
”
Credits
(Works Cited/Bibliography)
“Sergei Rachmaninoff.” Classical.net. Web. 30 June 2014.
[http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/rachmaninoff.php]
“Fun Trivia: Liszt.” FunTrivia.com. Web. 30 June 2014.
[http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Music/Liszt-7907.html]
"Franz Liszt." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 30 June 2014.
[http://www.biography.com/people/franz-liszt-9383467]
Jacobsen, Julius H. The Classical Music Experience: Discover the Music of the World’s Greatest
Composers. Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2003. Print.
“Franz Liszt.” Classical.net. Web. 30 June 2014. [http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/liszt.php]
“Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.” Composed by Franz Liszt. Recorded by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Rhapsody.com. Web. 30 June 2014.
[http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/various-artists/album/piano-transcriptions-andarrangements/track/hungarian-rhapsody-no-2]
Pictures
Slide 2 – Piano keys. Microsoft Office Clipart.
Slide 3 – Franz Liszt shortly before his death. By Nadar, March 1886. Public Domain. Accessed on
Wikipedia. 10 July 2014. Web.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt#mediaviewer/File:Franz_Liszt_by_Nadar,_March_
1886.png]
Slide 4 – Franz Liszt as a child. [http://www.seniorplaza.nl/Componisten_Liszt.htm]
Slide 5 – Franz Liszt the brooding sex-symbol.
[http://www.classicfm.com/composers/liszt/guides/lisztearly-sex-symbol-celebrity/]
Slide 5 – Victorian Lady. [http://thegraphicsfairy.com/free-vintage-image-victorian-woman-scrap/]
Slide 6 – Franz Liszt the lover. [http://tehparadox.com/forum/f55/classical-franz-liszt-favourite-piano2402018/]
Slide 6 – Four Ladies [http://miho-entwistle.blogspot.com/2011/09/franz-liszts-dangerouslove_12.html] ***This website claims that Franz Liszt had at least 26 serious affairs, as well
as other fling-type relationships. It’s not a super credible source, but other things I’ve read
also suggest he was quite the philanderer.
Pictures (cont.)
Slide 7 – Franz Liszt and the Princess Carolyne Say-Wittgenstein.
[http://www.labdarugo.be/Liszt.htm]
***This is a great site about Liszt, if you speak Dutch. (My mom does—yay for me! )
Slide 7 – St. Cecilia Medallion. Found in Google Images. Original site [www.peruvianconnection.com]
no longer available.
Slides 8-12,15 – Rachmaninoff. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff]
Slide 11 – Russia. [http://www.russian-for-tourism.eu/]
Slide 11 – Denmark. [http://beauty-places.com/copenhagen/]
Slide 11 – New York. [http://blog.libero.it/barbone777/]
Slide 12 – Franz Liszt at the piano. [http://www.labdarugo.be/Liszt.htm]
Slide 13 – Tom Cat. From Tom & Jerry’s Cat Concerto. [http://www.classical-music-world.com/tomjerry-hungarian-rhapsody-no-2-liszt/].
Slide 14 – Bugs Bunny. From Rhapsody Rabbit. [http://www.sterow.com/?p=789]
Slide 16 – Mickey Mouse. From The Opry House. [http://playrific.com/m/5442/mickey-mouse-theopry- house-1929]
WANT MORE?
Vist Rhapsody.com to hear the version of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 used for this Music Analysis.
Click here to see a video about the use of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in popular cartoons.
(This is great!)
Like the Muppets? See Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 with Rowlf and Victor Borge.
Mickey Mouse. This has a bunch of other stuff mixed in with the Rhapsody, but I love Mickey’s
Liszt hairdo.
Rhapsody in Rivets. Probably my favorite cartoon version of the Rhapsody; I love the panting dogs
in the Friska.