Talking about the easiest Liszt pieces is kind of a joke, because most of his music is extremely difficult – or at the very least, quite advanced.
However, it’s my mission to let you know which pieces are the easiest, even if that doesn’t mean they’re easy. And that’s what today’s video is all about! Most of the easiest pieces start at a late intermediate level, so I’d say you’d want to be at least a Grade 6 level before attempting any of these.
I’ll be using two grading systems to evaluate the difficulties of these pieces – the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), and Henle. I’ve talked in depth about these rating systems before, and you can check out those videos if you missed them.
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Categories
The easiest way to discuss Liszt’s pieces are to divide them into categories, which are the following:
Etudes
Years of pilgrimage
Hungarian pieces
Consolations
Little piano pieces
Valse oubliees
liebestraume
Harmonies poetiques et religieuses
Misc works
We’ll go through each category one by one, and see if there are any easier pieces in each category. At the end of this video, we’ll do a summary of the easiest pieces.
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Etudes
Liszt has many collections of etudes, including Two Concert Etudes (S. 145), Transcendental Etudes (S. 139), Three Concert Etudes (S. 144), Grand Etudes de Paganini (S. 140), and Twelve Etudes (S. 136).
Among these collections of etudes, they are extremely difficult. The vast majority of them are marked at an RCM ARCT level (basically the highest level).
According to Henle, the Three Concert Etudes (S. 144) are between level 7-8 (the most difficult level is 9). You’ll want to leave these well alone until you’re at an advanced level.
Henle’s rating of the Transcendental Etudes (S. 139) are even more challenging, with most falling between levels 8-9. The exception to this is the third etude “Paysage”, which is rated at a medium level of 6 (which would still be quite difficult at around Grade 10 RCM).
Really the only etude that’s approachable to the late intermediate/early advanced student is his op. 1 no. 4 etude (S. 136), which is at around a level 8. You might want to check out some of the other etudes in the Twelve Etudes (S. 136) as well, though they’re not as famous.
![]() look inside | Complete Etudes For Solo Piano, Series I – Including The Transcendental Etudes Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Ferruccio Busoni. Masterworks; Piano Collection. Dover Edition. Form: Etude. Classical Period and Etudes. Collection. With introductory text and performance notes (does not include words to the songs). 272 pages. Published by Dover Publications (AP.6-258157). |
![]() look inside | Complete Etudes For Solo Piano, Series II: Including The Paganini Etudes And Concert Etudes Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Ferruccio Busoni. Masterworks; Piano Collection. Dover Edition. Form: Etude. Classical Period. Collection. With introductory text and performance notes (does not include words to the songs). 184 pages. Published by Dover Publications (AP.6-258165). |
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Years of pilgrimage
Liszt wrote three “Years of Pilgrimage” collections, which were his impressions of Switzerland, detailing his experiences with the landscape and countryside.
These are by and large for advanced students, with most of the pieces being around a grade 10-ARCT level. But there are a couple pieces within these sets that are a little more approachable, including:
rimage book 3: Angelus! Priere aux anges gardiens (Henle 4)
Pilgrimage book 2: Il Penseroso (Henle 4/5)
Pilgrimage book 3: Marche funebre (Henle 5)
Pilgrimage book 1: Pastorale (Henle 5/6)
Pilgrimage book 1: Le mal du pays (Henle 5/6)
Pilgrimage book 2: Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa (Henle 5/6)
Pilgrimage book 3: Aux Cypres de la Villa d’Este 1 and 2 (Henle 5/6)
Pilgrimage book 3: Sunt lacrymae rerum en mode hongrois (Henle 5/6)
![]() look inside | Annee De Pelerinage – Book 1: Suisse Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Rafael Joseffy. Piano Collection. Romantic, Classical. 72 pages. G. Schirmer #LB910. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50256890). |
![]() look inside | Annees de Pelerinage – “Italie” Suite Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Rafael Joseffy. Piano Collection. Classical Period. Collection. With standard notation, fingerings and introductory text (does not include words to the songs). 55 pages. G. Schirmer #LB911. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50256900). |
![]() look inside | Annees de Pelerinage, Troisieme Annee Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Ernst Herttrich. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Henle Music Folios. Pages: VIII and 49. Classical. Softcover. 60 pages. G. Henle #HN175. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480175). |
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Hungarian pieces
Liszt’s Five Hungarian Folk Songs (S. 245) are doable for the advancing student at around level 8, but still not remotely easy.
The remainder of his Hungarian tunes are the various Hungarian Rhapsodies, which are some of the highest level pieces out there. Henle ranks them between 8/9, which is extremely difficult repertoire.
![]() look inside | Rhapsodies Hongroises – Book 1: Nos. 1 – 8 Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Rafael Joseffy. Piano Collection. Rhapsody, Hungarian, Classical, Romantic. 92 pages. G. Schirmer #LB1033. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50257480). |
![]() look inside | Rhapsodies Hongroises – Book 2: Nos. 9 – 15 Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Rafael Joseffy. Piano Collection. Rhapsody, Hungarian, Classical, Romantic. 120 pages. G. Schirmer #LB1034. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50257490). |
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Consolations
Of some consolation to us commonfolk trying to learn Liszt’s music are his Consolations (S. 172). By no means easy, some of them are at least accessible.
The first Consolation is the easiest, at an RCM grade 8 level (early advanced) – Henle ranks this one as level 4. Probably the most popular Consolation is the third one, which is more difficult at an RCM grade 10 level – Henle ranks this one as level 4/5.
There are 6 consolations in total, and they progress in difficulty from Henle level 4 to level 5/6, so if you’re an early-advanced student, you might want to check this collection out.
![]() look inside | Liszt — Six Consolations Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Maurice Hinson. Book; CD; Masterworks; Piano Collection. Alfred Masterwork CD Edition. Masterwork; Romantic. 24 pages. Published by Alfred Music (AP.37144). |
Liszt’s Little piano pieces, s. 192
Another approachable collection is Liszt’s Five Piano Pieces (S. 192). These don’t exist on Henle or the RCM syllabus, but they’re probably all around a grade 7-8 level. These might even be the best gateway pieces to Liszt, as they’re potentially the easiest.
Valses oubliees S 215
Next up are Liszt’s Forgotten Waltzes (Valses oubliees, S. 215). This is a collection of four waltzes that are around a Grade 10 – ARCT level in the RCM.
Henle ranks these between level 6/7 to level 7, so they’re quite challenging. I’d avoid these unless you’re a pretty advanced student.
The exception might possibly be with the first valse, which also happens to be the most popular – it’s the easiest of the bunch (but still advanced at a Grade 10 level).
![]() look inside | Valses oubliees Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Peter Jost. Henle Music Folios. Classical. Softcover. 52 pages. G. Henle #HN977. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480977). |
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Liebestraume
Liszt’s Liebestraume are great! I did an analysis video on these a while back, so check that out if you’d like to get into more depth on these. They’re definitely worth checking out.
…But are any easy?
Nope. The most doable one is the second, Seliger Tod, at a Henle level 5/6 (probably around RCM grade 10). The third Liebestraum is the most famous, but also the most difficult of the set, at a Henle level 6/7. Avoid these until you’re well into the advanced levels.
![]() look inside | Liebestraume, 3 Notturnos Piano Solo. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Ernst-Gunter Heinemann and Ernst-G. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Henle Music Folios. Pages: III and 19. Classical. Softcover. 24 pages. G. Henle #HN634. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480634). |
Harmonies poetiques et religieuses
Liszt’s collection of short pieces, his Religious and Poetic Harmonies, is one of the only approachable collections for late intermediate-early advanced students, and has some of his “simplest” pieces.
Among those are:
Pater noster (Henle level 4)
Ave Maria (Henle level 5)
Hymne de l’enfant a son reveil (Henle level 5/6)
Funerailles, which is quite well-known, is also very difficult at an FRSM level (ABRSM), and a Henle level 7.
![]() look inside | Harmonies Poetiques/relig. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). EMB. 72 pages. Editio Musica Budapest #Z12312. Published by Editio Musica Budapest (HL.50511679). |
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Other misc works
There are also some individual pieces from Liszt worth mentioning.
Nuages gris (gray clouds, S. 199) is awesome and moody and probably around an RCM grade 7 level. If I were to guess the Henle ranking (this piece isn’t on Henle), I’d say around 3/4.
Abschied (Farewell, S. 251) is also around an RCM grade 7 level, is only two pages, and has a lovely (but mournful) character. It’s worth checking out.
Some other famous individual pieces, like Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz no. 1, is out of reach at an ARCT (RCM) level.
![]() look inside | Liszt: The Final Years for Piano – Late Period Compositions Piano Solo Schirmer’s Library of Musical Classics Vol. 1845. Composed by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Edited by Joseph Prostakoff. Piano Collection. Fugue, Baroque, Toccata, Classical. 162 pages. G. Schirmer #LB1845. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50262220). |
Summary of the easiest Liszt pieces
Nuages gris, gray clouds, S. 199 (estimate around Henle 3/4 and RCM grade 7)
Abschied, farewell S. 251 (estimate around Henle 3/4 and RCM grade 7)
Five Piano Pieces, S. 192 (estimate around a grade 7-8 level, or Henle 4)
Pilgrimage book 3: Angelus! Priere aux anges gardiens (Henle 4)
Consolation #1 (Henle 4, RCM grade 8)
Pater noster (Henle level 4) – harmonies poetiques et religieuses
Pilgrimage book 2: Il Penseroso (Henle 4/5)
Pilgrimage book 3: Marche funebre (Henle 5)
Ave Maria (Henle level 5) – harmonies poetiques et religieuses
Conclusion
I know there really aren’t any “easy” Liszt pieces, but hopefully this list gets you started if you’re an intermediate or advanced-level student.
xo,
Allysia
Related
FAQs
What is the easiest Liszt piano piece? ›
Easiest Liszt Pieces: Consolations
The first Consolation is the easiest, at an RCM grade 8 level (early advanced) – Henle ranks this one as level 4. Probably the most popular Consolation is the third one, which is more difficult at an RCM grade 10 level – Henle ranks this one as level 4/5.
Liszt was a prolific composer, and many of his pieces are considered quite challenging. However, La Campanella is regarded as his most complex and difficult piece. La Campanella, which is Italian for "little bell," is the third of Liszt's Grandes etudes de Paganini.
What is the most beautiful Liszt piano piece? ›The Piano Sonata In B Minor (1853) is generally acknowledged to be Liszt's masterpiece and is a model of his technique of thematic transformation, which is also prominent in the symphonic poems.
What are Liszt's hardest pieces ranked? ›- Transcendental Etudes After Paganini #4 1st Version (pretty sure only Howard and Petrov recorded this one)
- Transcendental Etudes After Paganini #2 (only 3 or 4 people recorded this)
- Grand Etudes 10.
- Trans Etudes after Paganini #3"La Campanella"
- Trans Etudes After Paganini #6"Themes and Variation"
- “Gaspard de la Nuit” – Maurice Ravel.
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 – Franz Liszt.
- “Mists” – Iannis Xenakis.
- “Hammerklavier” (Sonata No. 29 Op. ...
- “Giant Steps” – John Coltrane.
- Sonata No. 5 – Alexander Scriabin.
- “L'escalier du diable” (“The Devil's Staircase”) – György Ligeti.
- Playing the Most Difficult Piano Songs.
Liszt's ones ( Trascendental études ), they are more challenging and much more technical demanding than Chopin's ones. For example, Liszt's trascendental étude nº5 "Feux Follets" is one of the hardest pieces ever wrote for piano.
Who is harder Liszt or Rachmaninoff? ›Rachmaninoff's music is much more complex; not only the technical side but also the polyphony, voicing, and the structural complexity of it is enormous. Musically, Rachmaninoff is far more difficult to understand than Liszt. It is more difficult to play rach convincingly.
What is the fastest piano piece? ›1. Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 'Presto Agitato'
What is the hardest piano piece called? ›Piano Sonata No.
29 more famously known as the Hammerklavier is the granddaddy of all difficult pieces for the piano. This is the piece that most other piano pieces are compared to. It's Beethoven's hardest sonata and is widely recognized as one of the most challenging piano pieces of all time.
Chopin and Liszt, two wildly popular Romantic-era composers, could best be described as “frenemies”. They were both excellent pianists who were wildly revered, but were basically different in every way. Liszt was all flair and virtuosity; Chopin was delicate and subtle, seldom playing louder than a mezzo forte.
What is the most romantic Liszt? ›
1. Liebesträume, Franz Liszt. To get your day off to a romantic start, why not opt for this sweet-sounding set of piano works? Written in 1850 and German for 'dreams of love', Liszt composed the lieder after taking inspiration from a selection of poems by Ludwig Uhland and Ferdinand Freiligrath.
What grade is Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody? ›Instrumentation | Wind Band |
---|---|
Grade | 5 |
Duration | 12 minutes |
Publisher | → Baton Music |
Liszt had a reputation for 'flying fingers'; previously pianists bent them over the keys. He exploited certain known techniques to added effect, such as rubato which became a major feature of Romantic expression, and some pianists were tempted to exaggerate.
What piece is harder than La Campanella? ›particularly "mazeppa".
What piano song is impossible? ›'La Campanella', which translates as 'little bell', comes from a larger work – the Grandes études de Paganini – and is famous for being one of the most difficult pieces ever written for piano.
What is the hardest piano song ever created? ›Ravel's Scarbo is considered one of the most fearsome virtuoso works in the piano repertoire. The composer is said to have written the piece in 1908 in a conscious attempt to out-difficult Balakirev's Islamey – then considered the hardest piece ever written for the keyboard.
Who is the greatest pianist today? ›Martha Argerich (1941-)
Widely considered the world's greatest living pianist, the Argentine pianist Martha Argerich has been dazzling audiences since the mid-century.
But the physical challenges are incomparable - if we were to rank them, a solid majority of Liszt pieces are an order of magnitude more physically challenging than everything Bach ever wrote for keyboard. If we're 'just' aiming to give a competent professional performance, Liszt is far harder.
What grade is fantaisie impromptu? ›Composer | Frédéric Chopin |
---|---|
Title | Fantaisie-Impromptu in C# minor Op 66 |
Grade | 9 |
Syllabus | AMEB |
PS Rating | 9 |
The full version of Fur Elise is considered reasonably difficult, broadly an intermediate piece around grade 5, but a shorter arrangement of only the famous section is often taught as well. This is much easier, suitable for late beginners, but still requires some foundational skill to perform well.
What is Beethoven's hardest piece? ›
While we are on the topic of Beethoven, his 29th piano sonata “Hammerklavier” Op. 106 is among the absolute hardest pieces in all of piano literature — and he designed it to be hard.
Is Hungarian Rhapsody or La Campanella harder? ›Re: Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 vs La Campanella
HR 2 is much harder on the technical level than La Campanella. La Campanella most difficult technique is the trills hands down.
Easiest Rachmaninoff: Preludes
His first prelude, op. 3 no. 2 in C sharp minor, is probably his most well-known and is fairly playable by his own standards at a Henle level 6 (9 is the highest/hardest). This would be around a grade 10 RCM level.
Organ2/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) is a musical piece by John Cage and the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken.
What is the longest piano solo? ›The longest known piano piece is Erik Satie's Vexations, if we we overlook the requirement for a piece of music to be “non-repetitive”. Though undated, scholars predict the piece to be dated to around 1893-1894.
Do you type faster if you play piano? ›Some people start to wonder if pianists can type faster. Amazingly, studies show that pianists type more quickly and accurately than non-pianists. According to a recent research from the Max Planck Institute of Informatics, piano players can 'play words' as fast as expert typists can type them.
What grade is La Campanella? ›Composer | Franz Liszt |
---|---|
Title | Etude S 140 No 3 in Ab Minor La campanella |
Grade | 12 (Licentiate Diploma) |
Syllabus | RCM |
PS Rating | 10 |
pianissimo (very soft) p. piano (soft)
What is softer than piano? ›The typical range proceeds as follows, from softest to loudest: pianissimo (pp), piano (p), mezzo-piano (mp), mezzo-forte (mf), forte (f), fortissimo (ff).
How good was Liszt as a pianist? ›Many musicians consider Liszt to be the greatest pianist who ever lived. The critic Peter G. Davis has opined: "Perhaps [Liszt] was not the most transcendent virtuoso who ever lived, but his audiences thought he was."
How did Liszt react to Chopin's death? ›
When Frédéric Chopin died at the age of 39, Franz Liszt was heartbroken. So he wrote one of his most popular pieces, “Funérailles,” in Chopin's honor.
Did Liszt and Chopin ever meet? ›Liszt met Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) shortly after the latter's arrival in Paris in September 1831 and attended his Paris debut at the Salle Pleyel on February 26, 1832. Displayed along with the playbill for this concert are the first piano solo edition of Chopin's Piano Concerto, op.
Was Chopin in love with Liszt? ›They shared a mutual admiration for each other, but it would be a stretch to classify their relationship as a great friendship. Liszt was enamored by the simplicity and poetic atmosphere of Chopin's compositions, but Chopin soon came to dislike what he perceived to be Liszt's theatricality.
How hard is love dream by Liszt? ›It is a ARCT level piece, considered very advanced. Requires a solid technique and a lot of emotion and musicality to master. Some parts are hard and requires skill.
What grade is Liszt Liebestraum? ›Composer | Franz Liszt |
---|---|
Grade | 10 |
Syllabus | RCM |
PS Rating | 10 |
My Repertoire | (login required) |
Composer | Franz Liszt |
---|---|
Title | Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 C# minor S244 |
Grade | 9 |
Syllabus | Piano St |
PS Rating | 10 |
Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Mid Intermediate - Grade 3) - Supersonics Piano.
What level of difficulty is Bohemian rhapsody on piano? ›1. Violin. The violin is a wooden stringed instrument that's part of a larger family of similar instruments. It's the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in its family and normally has four strings, although some violins can have five.
What is the hardest instrument to ever play? ›- Bassoon. Bassoon player in orchestra. ...
- Violin. The violin is a commonly learnt instrument, so you may be surprised to see this here. ...
- French horn. ...
- Hammond organ. ...
- Accordion.
Who is the hardest composer of all time? ›
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
Bach, one of the greatest classical composers, wrote ceaselessly: it's interesting that the hardest-working composer of all time should also be the one closest to musical perfection.
"If only I do not die here." After falling ill during a visit to Bayreuth, Franz Liszt uttered this melancholy refrain throughout his final days, which were spent in rented rooms in a house opposite Wahnfried, the home of his daughter Cosima and his deceased son-in-law Richard Wagner.
Did Liszt memorize his music? ›Liszt wrote his own pieces, but also transcribed many classic pieces by other composers for piano. He would also memorize music for the concerts he performed.
What is lisztomania disorder? ›Lisztomania or Liszt fever was the intense fan frenzy directed toward Hungarian composer Franz Liszt during his performances. This frenzy first occurred in Berlin in 1841 and the term was later coined by Heinrich Heine in a feuilleton he wrote on April 25, 1844, discussing the 1844 Parisian concert season.
What is Liszt's hardest piece? ›Liszt was a prolific composer, and many of his pieces are considered quite challenging. However, La Campanella is regarded as his most complex and difficult piece. La Campanella, which is Italian for "little bell," is the third of Liszt's Grandes etudes de Paganini.
Can a beginner play La Campanella? ›Well it's most probably like one in a million people who are total beginners would be able to do La Campanella within less than a year. I think there is no problems to doubt that people just won't be able to do it. Building up skill level in an appropriate manner should be promoted.
Is Flight of the Bumblebee hard? ›'Flight of the Bumblebee' is a notoriously difficult piece of music which the composer wrote as an orchestral interlude for his opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan. It is meant to mirror the chaotic flying pattern of a bumblebee.
What grade is Liebestraum No 3? ›- Prelude in B minor, Op. 28/6.
- Album Leaf, Op. Posth.
- Mazurka in A minor, Op. 67/4.
- Waltz in Eb Major, Op. Posth.
- Prelude in Db Major, Op. 28/15.
- Nocturne in G minor, Op. 37/1.
- Mazurka in B Major, Op. 7/1.
- Waltz in B Major, Op. 69/2.
Composer | Claude Debussy |
---|---|
Grade | 7 |
Syllabus | AMEB PFL |
PS Rating | 8 |
Notes | Pianist No 66 |
Who was better Liszt or Chopin? ›
Chopin and Liszt, two wildly popular Romantic-era composers, could best be described as “frenemies”. They were both excellent pianists who were wildly revered, but were basically different in every way. Liszt was all flair and virtuosity; Chopin was delicate and subtle, seldom playing louder than a mezzo forte.
What is the hardest piano genre? ›Stride piano is one of the most difficult styles to master, due to its sheer technical nature.
What difficulty is moment Musicaux? ›As their title suggests, Franz Schubert's “Moment musicaux” are quite short pieces – shorter than his “Impromptus”. Six pieces in various moods and of moderate difficulty are collected under the opus number 94 and edited with our customary Urtext quality.
What is the shortest piece by Chopin? ›The shortest of all is Prelude No.
20 in C minor.
Chopin's Waltzes
64 waltzes, are around a grade 9 level, but Chopin is so nuanced that it's really only a good idea to try those once you've been acquainted with his style.
25, No. 6, in G-sharp minor, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin focusing on thirds, trilling them at a high speed. Also called the Double Thirds Étude, it is considered one of the hardest of Chopin's 24 Études, ranking the highest level of difficulty according to the Henle difficulty rankings.