Rondeau fantastique sur un theme espagnol 'El contrabandista' S.252 - Franz Liszt | •DevilSynthesia•

Rondeau fantastique sur un thème espagnol: "El Contrabandista" ("Fantastic Rondo on the Spanish Theme The Smuggler"), S. 252, is a classical musical composition for piano solo by Franz Liszt, written in 1836, and published in 1837 as Liszt's Opus 5 No. 3. It is based on a Spanish song popular at that time. It lasts approximately 8–9 minutes according to the high tempo Liszt assigned, though most pianists play it slower (10–12 minutes) due to its incredible difficulty.

Liszt's piano piece was based on Manuel Garcia's popular aria "Yo que soy contrabandista" for soprano female singer, guitar, and castanets, from his one-act zarzuela El poeta calculista. The song was made popular by García's daughter, the well-known mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran. Liszt's piece is essentially a set of variations on the song, loosely organized in rondo form. As with Liszt's other piano works based on other composers' pieces, it contains a complete exploration of the elements of the theme. After each excursion the theme keeps coming back around as in a typical rondo.

It has been hailed as one of the most technically challenging solo piano compositions in classical pianism. It contains a great quantity of effects and virtuoso feats, including chord tremolos with accompanying thirds, wide jumps, fast repetitive notes, and arpeggios and octaves at a breakneck tempo, keeping a deciso (decisive) attitude throughout. Compared to La campanella's infamous two-to-three octave jumps, the Rondeau's leaps are two octaves greater.

Liszt initially intended this piece as a bravura finale for his recitals, but hardly ever played it. He performed it in front of George Sand who praised it and wrote extensively about it, and Hector Berlioz hailed it as Liszt's finest work. The modern concert pianist Mikhail Pletnev was eager to play it live, but gave up, calling it "unplayable". Valentina Lisitsa has performed and recorded her interpretation on YouTube (in 2011), including an impromptu performance on a public upright piano in London's St. Pancras railway station in 2013. Leslie Howard played the piece at a festival of Spanish music in Madrid in 2015, having recorded it 19 years earlier as part of his complete survey of Liszt's works for solo piano.

[chrisvajanyi]

I still can’t believe people think modern music is good. This shit right here will never get old. Liszt ain’t a fad. Never will be. You da GOAT.

[prammar]

Some parts are really sad and amazing... I wish liszt revised this work.

[CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

5:28 wtf lmao

[m.erubik]

I look and see that is a very difficult piece, cheers

[Abuelitaofhvms]

Sorry I’m late I had homework and thank u for this. Somehow u are doing my favorite pieces. And one more thing can u do Hungarian rhapsody No. 15 by Liszt?

[CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

This is playable coz I watched Belyavsky play the piece and he probably played the piece in 2x speed...

[fatherjack]

People say this is hard, I've seen harder. Fight me.

[CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

Q. How many pianos were damaged by Liszt?
A. Yep.

[Emblazon]

Bruh Fuck idk is liszt french or spanish??

[ilovemycatrussell]

Was Franz Liszt on drugs when he wrote this?