Description

The shortest of Liszt's 19 Rhapsodies, published in 1852, is Hungarian Rhapsody no. 3. This work represents an extensive reworking of a Hungarian National Melody that had been published a decade earlier. Comparing the two reveals that Liszt transformed the earlier piece into a true "Rhapsody" through substantially freer treatment of harmony, rhythm, and compositional structure. Characteristic features of Liszt's Rhapsody series, such as augmented seconds, oscillation between major and minor, and seemingly improvised cadenzas, appear here in exceptional density.

Since no autograph manuscripts for this piece survive, the editors carefully compared all available printed sources - an advance copy, the first edition, and a reprint - to produce this Urtext edition. The preface was written by renowned Liszt specialist Mária Eckhardt, and Vincenzo Maltempo provided the fingerings.