CHOPIN - Ballad No. 1 in G minor - H. Alexander Engel

The Mephisto Waltzes are four waltzes composed by Franz Liszt in 1859-62, 1880–81, 1883 and 1885. Nos. 1-2 were composed for orchestra, later arranged for piano, piano duet and two pianos, whereas 3 and 4 were written for piano only. Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded.

Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is the best-known of the series and, together with No. 3, the most praised musically.

Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke (The Dance in the Village Inn) is the second of two short works he wrote for orchestra. While the work preceding it, Midnight Procession ("Der nächtliche Zug"), is rarely given (though both works have been recorded together), the waltz has been a concert favorite, with its passion, sensuality and dramatics generating an emotional impact. James Huneker described the work's "langourous syncopated melody" as "one of the most voluptuous episodes outside of the Tristan score.

The Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is a typical example of program music, taking for its program an episode from Faust, not by Goethe but by Nikolaus Lenau (1802–50). The following program note, which Liszt took from Lenau, appears in the printed score:

There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistopheles and Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches the fiddle from the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains. The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods. The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song.

Liszt intended to publish the Waltz simultaneously with the Night Procession: "...The publication of the two Lenau's Faust episodes... I entrust to Schuberth's own judgement; as to whether the piano version or the score appears first, makes no difference to me; the only important thing is that both pieces should appear simultaneously, the Night Procession as No.1 and the Mephisto Waltz as No.2. There is naturally no thematic relationship between the two pieces; but they are related nonetheless by all the contrasts of emotions. A Mephisto of this kind may only arise from such a poodle!..." Liszt’s request was not fulfilled and the two episodes were published separately.

The waltz was conceived as both an orchestra and a piano work. Three versions, orchestral, piano duet and piano solo, all date more or less from the same period (1859–62). The piano duet version is a straightforward transcription of the orchestral version, while the solo piano version is an independent composition. Liszt dedicated the piece to Carl Tausig, his favourite pupil. Tausig was a master pianist and great friend to Liszt. Sadly Tausig died at only 30 years of age.

Liszt - Mephisto Waltz No. 1 - H. Alexander Engel -2013

Liebesträume (German for Dreams of Love) is a set of three solo piano works by Franz Liszt, published in 1850. Liszt called each of the three pieces Liebesträume but, often they are referred to incorrectly in the singular as Liebestraum (especially No. 3, the most famous of the three). Originally the three Liebesträume (Notturni) were conceived as songs after poems by Ludwig Uhland and Ferdinand Freiligrath. In 1850, two versions appeared simultaneously as a set of songs for high voice and piano, and as transcriptions for piano two-hands.

Liebesträume No. 3 is the last of the three that Liszt wrote, and the most popular, and can be considered as split into three sections, each divided by a fast cadenza requiring dexterous finger work and a very high degree of technical ability.

Liszt - Liebestraum No. 3 H. Alexander Engel - 2013

Au bord d'une source (Beside a Spring) is a virtuoso piano showpiece by Franz Liszt; it is the 4th piece of the first suite of Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). There are three separate versions of Au bord d'une source. The first version appears in Liszt's set Album d'une voyageur (1834–1838), and the second in the first suite of Liszt's Années de pèlerinage (1836–1855). 

The piece has many intricate difficulties that are belied by the calm mood with which a successful performance is often imbued.

Au bord d'une source - F. Liszt -   Pianist - H. Alexander Engel

Liszt frequently expanded upon the work of previous composers to create new musical forms. His transcription of Verdi’s Rigoletto was part of a completely new style of piano composition. He was loyal to the original music, yet was so creative that he expanded the music with great musical genious.

Liszt - Rigoletto Concert Paraphrase - H. Alexander Engel (Pianist)

Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major was composed between 1929 and 1931. The concerto is in three movements and is heavily influenced by jazz, which Ravel had encountered on a concert tour of the United States.

The concerto was deeply infused with jazz idioms and harmonies, which, at the time, were highly popular in Paris as well as the United States, where Ravel was traveling on a piano tour. 

The first movement opens with a single whip-crack, and what follows can be described as a unique blend between the Basque and Spanish sounds of Ravel's youth and the newer jazz styles he had become so fond of. Like many other concerti, the opening movement is written in the standard sonata-allegro form, but with considerably more emphasis placed on the exposition. The work is filled with fire, tenderness and great spirit.

Ravel - Piano Concerto In G Major (First Movement) - H. Alexander Engel

Chopin composed the Impromptu in A flat major in 1837 and published it the following year, dedicating it to one of his pupils, Lady Caroline de Lobau. The enchanting arabesque of the opening theme is followed by its complement, which wanders hesitantly and endlessly over the keyboard (bars (8)9–16). 

The middle section of the Impromptu, in the relative key of F minor, is filled with a piano song – sweeping and embellished, after the fashion of an improvised aria or nocturne (bars 43–54). Returning in the reprise is the arabesque of a melody spun out seemingly without end, though finally extinguished, backed by chords that are cast forth softly, mezzo voce. It is difficult to call this anything other than the music of --- confidences.

Chopin -Impromptus: No. 1 in A flat major - H. Alexander Engel

Étude in D-sharp minor, Op. 8 No. 12, is an étude for piano composed by Scriabin in 1894.  It features many technical challenges, including treacherous stretches with intervals up to an eleventh, numerous jumps in the left hand, repetitive chord strikes, and abundant octaves. It is a particular favorite among pianists and audiences alike. This piece was a favorite encore of Vladimir Horowitz.

Scriabin - Étude in D sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12 - H. Alexander Engel

The third Impromptu carries within it something of the atmosphere of Chopin’s salon – an exceptional salon, not conventional and snobbish, but as poetic as it is elegant, transporting its denizens into another dimension.

The Impromptu in G flat major offers music that is suffused with light and seemingly exempt from undue gravity. It was composed to the tripartite (reprise) design that was established for this genre. In the outermost parts, it is almost entirely given over to lively melody that resembles figuration. 

This piece is tender, poetic, and sublime.

Chopin - Impromptus: No. 3 in G flat major - H. Alexander Engel

Three Concert Études (Trois études de concert), S.144, are a set of three piano études by Franz Liszt, composed between 1845–49 and published in Paris as Trois caprices poétiques with the three individual titles as they are known today.  As the title indicates, they are intended not only for the acquisition of a better technique, but also for concert performance. The Italian subtitles now associated with the studies – Il lamento ("The Lament"), La leggierezza ("Lightness"), Un sospiro ("A sigh") – were not in early editions.

Étude No. 2, La leggierezza

La leggierezza (meaning "lightness") is the second of the Three Concert Études. It is a monothematic piece in F minor with a very simple melodic line in each hand under an unusual Quasi allegretto tempo marking, usually ignored in favour of something a bit more frenetic.  It starts with a fast, but delicate sixteen chromatic-note arpeggio divided in thirds and sixths under an irregular rhythmic subdivision and cadenza so as to underline the light atmosphere of its title.  The technical difficulties involved are fast passages of minor thirds in the right hand and light, but quick leggiero chromatic scales.

Liszt -Etude de concert No. 2 - H. Alexander Engel

Rachmaninoff -Prelude in E Flat

H. Alexander Engel:

Talented Composer, Lyricist, and Producer.

Classically trained musician, orchestrator, and writer with a  broad musical knowledge of international styles, cultures, and customs.

Multilingual songwriter composes and writes in English, Spanish, Italian and German.

Concert level pianist. Has written four hundred seventy-five (475) songs. Most have multilingual translations. Has composed many large form orchestral scores and chamber works.

H. Alexander Engel is completely committed to excellence and achievement. 

For more information email at EngelComm@gmail.com or at soundcloud.

H.Alexander Engel

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