Liszt S 141 La campanella Wiki 2011

La campanella

Performed by Romuald Greiss on an 1850 Budynowicz piano

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

La campanella (Italian: the little bell) is the nickname given to the third of six Grandes études de Paganini ("Grand Paganini Études"), S. 141 (1851), composed by Franz Liszt. This piece is a revision of an earlier version from 1838, the Études d'exécution transcendente d'après Paganini, S. 140. Its melody comes from the final movement of Niccolò Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, where the tune was reinforced by a little handbell.

The étude is played at a brisk pace and studies right hand jumping between intervals larger than one octave, sometimes even stretching for two whole octaves within the time of a sixteenth note, at allegretto tempo. As a whole, the étude can be practised to increase dexterity and accuracy at large jumps on the piano, along with agility of the weaker fingers of the hand. The largest intervals reached by the right hand are fifteenths (two octaves) and sixteenths (two octaves and a second). Sixteenth notes are played between the two notes, and the same note is played two octaves or two octaves and a second higher with no rest. No time is provided for the pianist to move the hand, thus forcing the pianist to avoid tension within the muscles. Fifteenth intervals are quite common in the beginning of the étude, while the sixteenth intervals appear twice, at the thirtieth and thirty-second measures.

The two red notes are 35 half-steps apart, which is about 46cm (18in) apart on a piano.

However, the left hand studies about four extremely large intervals, larger than those in the right hand. For example, after the Più mosso, at the seventh measure, the left hand makes a sixteenth-note jump of just a half-step below three octaves. The étude also involves other technical difficulties, e.g. trills with the fourth and fifth fingers. The pianist will normally try to limit trills with the fourth and fifth, for easier endurance.

The work has been arranged by other composers and pianists, most notably Ferruccio Busoni and Marc-André Hamelin.

[edit] External links

Grandes études de Paganini : Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.

Free sheet music of La campanella from Cantorion.org

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_campanella_(Liszt)&oldid=452995577" Categories: Études by Franz Liszt Solo piano pieces 1838 in music Hidden categories: Articles with hAudio microformats Articles containing Italian language text This page was last modified on 29 September 2011 at 04:51.