Among Franz Liszt’s final works for solo piano is the Csárdás macabre, composed in 1881. The piece is a ghoulish joyride, filled with convention-defying parallel fifths and intimations of the Dies irae. Its innovative harmonies anticipate the twentieth century music of Béla Bartók and others. Above the title on the manuscript, Liszt inscribed the words, “May one write or listen to such a thing?”
The csárdás is a Hungarian folk dance in 2/4 or 4/4 time, which begins at a slow tempo and accelerates wildly. Liszt’s Csárdás macabre begins ominously in the piano’s dark lower register and erupts into a thrilling display of virtuosic fireworks. Here is a performance by the Austrian pianist, Alfred Brendel:
Recordings
Liszt: Csárdás macabre, S.224, Alfred Brendel Amazon
