Hungarian Rhapsody no. 7

The seventh Hungarian Rhapsody, which was issued in 1853, is based on three themes from Hungarian folk music: an older instrumental melody and two peasant songs. We find here all the typical characteristics of the “style hongrois,” such as tempo changes, rich ornamentation, augmented-second suspensions, and sharply dotted rhythms. However, the rhapsody with a rather moderate level of difficulty requires diverse expressive and formative abilities in the Lento introduction as well as power and endurance in the Vivace section. During Liszt’s lifetime, the Rhapsody appeared in various versions, the sources of which were fully taken into consideration for the first time in the new Henle Urtext edition. Moreover, two eminent Liszt experts were also involved in the edition: Mária Eckhardt wrote the preface and Vincenzo Maltempo contributed the fingerings.