Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas Tree): 12 Pieces in Liszt's Original Transcription for Piano Four Hands

by Franz Liszt

According to Sacheverell Sitwell in his acclaimed biography of Liszt, this collection of 12 little pieces attest to the supreme skill of a composer attuned "to the smaller perfections and to the poetry of sentiment. ... The pieces are delightfully and supremely varied." Reproduced from an authoritative edition, Liszt's four-hand arrangement of these holiday pieces, now in an attractive, inexpensive edition, will make a superb addition to any pianist's repertoireof Romantic four-hand music.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Franz Liszt (1811, Doborján, Hungary - 1886, Bayreuth, Germany)(Hungarian: Ferencz Liszt, in modern usage Ferenc Liszt, from 1859 to 1865 officially Franz Ritter von Liszt) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. He was also the father-in-law of Richard Wagner.

Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer during the 1800s. He is said to have been the most technically advanced and perhaps greatest pianist of all time. He was also an important and influential composer, a notable piano teacher, a conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art, and a benefactor to other composers and performers, notably Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz.

As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the “neudeutsche schule” (“New German School”). He left behind a huge and diverse body of work, in which he influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated some 20th-century ideas and trends. Some of his most notable contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form and making radical departures in harmony.