The feeling becomes one of increased agitation as the music becomes increasingly chromatic with lengthy flurries in the right-hand punctuated by staccato left-hand chords. Shortly after Liszt brings in a virtuoso favorite, the repeating note figure that goes on to take the accompaniment role in the right-hand whilst still needing to lay the melodic material with that hand too. A balance between the parts and the hands is vital at this stage of the piece, ensuring that the melody is delicately audible and lightly accompanied.įollowing a short chromatic passage, Liszt swaps the accompanying pattern, now lightly repeating two-octave D#s in the right hand, with the melody that appears in the left0hand of the piano. Up until this point the right-hand had carried most of the musical content, but now Liszt incorporates big stretches for the left-hand as well, and harmonization for the Paganini melody in the right-hand part. This soft, gentle volume needs to be maintained as the music moves into a more chromatic section in B major that continues to feature giant leaps in the right-hand and bars that begin with rapid, decorative turns.īy around the third page of ‘La Campanella’, Liszt starts to add a whole new level of challenge. When you consider that the theme is in the lower notes of the right-hand, then this is another immediate challenge. It is important in the opening bars of the composition not to lose the lightness of touch and remember the dynamic marking of the piano (softly). As a pianist, octave leaps are perfectly manageable but as Liszt pushes the comfortable interval, and the speed is quite fast, accuracy can be difficult to achieve. It might lead you to think that the composer had particularly large hands but in fact, Liszt did not have unusually large hands just strong, dexterous ones that made leaps as you find in ‘La Campanella’ quite manageable. The stretches of up to two octaves that Liszt demands are the first challenge that is a feature of the entire work. Following the bell-like first three bars, Liszt begins to turn up the technical heat. Liszt opts for a 6/8 time signature and the work begins quite gently. Unlike the original Paganini concerto, Liszt chooses the key of G-sharp minor for his homage, which in itself can deter even the hardiest of pianists.Īt a first glance the ‘tempo’ of ‘La Campanella’ marked at ‘Allegretto’, doesn’t seem too daunting even with the accompanying key signature. Liszt then borrowed the melody for ‘La Campanella’ from Paganini’s ‘Second Violin Concerto’ in B minor: the final movement that features a handbell. Liszt had met Paganini and been incredibly impressed with his astonishing ability to play the violin. As you might very well expect, given the virtuosic reputation Paganini cultivated during his lifetime, ‘La Campanella’ is an extremely challenging work to play.
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