Franz Liszt, Teenage Idol Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hungarian

Liszt was born in Sopron County, in the Kingdom of Hungary, which was a part of the Austrian Empire. Musical ability ran in the family, as his father Adam was a talented musician, playing the piano, cello and violin as well as being personally acquainted with Franz Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Answer: Lisztomania

At the height of "Lisztomania" in the 1840s, female fans were documented fighting over his handkerchiefs and gloves, often tearing them into scraps in the process, although these scraps were still highly prized. Fans would also wear his portrait on brooches and fights would break out in attempts to obtain broken piano strings, which could be made into bracelets by admirers. This really was the forerunner to the Beatlemania of the 1960s or Rollermania of the 1970s.
The term Lisztomania was coined by his friend Heinrich Heine in a review of the musical season of 1844.

Answer: Frederic Chopin

Liszt had an amazing ability to combine elements of religious music with that of travelling Romany musicians he had heard during his formative years, and was also heavily influenced by his friends. These included literary figures such as Victor Hugo and Heinrich Heine as well as fellow composers such as Hector Berlioz and Frederic Chopin. In 1833, Liszt and Chopin performed, along with fellow composer Ferdinand Hiller, a concerto by J.S. Bach for three keyboards, which must have been quite the event.

Answer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Liszt gave contributions willingly to several causes including the Hungarian National School of Music, the Leopold Church in Pest, Cologne Cathedral and the Leipzig Musicians Pension Fund. He also gave to many hospitals and educational establishments as well as giving concerts to aid the thousands of people made homeless by the Great Fire of Hamburg in 1842.
The monument celebrating Beethoven was in danger of not going ahead until Liszt stepped in with a donation of over 10,000 francs, which was extraordinarily generous as the total contribution from France at the time was around 425 francs.
As a part of his contribution, Liszt donated his proceeds from his final concerts with Frederic Chopin, held in Paris in April 1841.

Answer: Richard Wagner

Countess Marie d'Agoult, an author known by the pen name Daniel Stern, was married to Charles Louis Constant d'Agoult and had two daughters with him before beginning her affair with Liszt. Although their union was initially conducted in secret, it became common knowledge when in 1835 when she left her husband to live with Liszt, bearing him three children: Blandine, Cosima and Daniel.
Cosima married conductor Hans von Bülow aged 20 in 1857 and the couple had two children before Cosima began an affair with German composer Richard Wagner, 24 years her senior and only two years younger than her father.
With Wagner, Cosima had three children: Isolde, Eva and Siegfried.

Answer: Don Sanche

Liszt was very young when he wrote "Don Sanche", an opera in one act, which premiered in 1825 in Paris, when Liszt was still only 13 years old.
The opera tells the tale of a test of the strength of love, asking whether Princess Elzire, with whom Don Sanche is infatuated, feels strongly enough about Sanche to give her own life in order to save his.
The opera was believed to have been lost in the fire of Salle Peletier in 1873 until it was rediscovered in 1903, and even though it is a work by the great Franz Liszt, it is very rarely performed in modern times.

Answer: Faust

Liszt's "Faust Symphony" (1857) is based on the play, "Faust" (1790) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but Liszt makes no attempt to retell the play through music. Instead he features the characters and makes musical portraits of Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles.
This symphony was much loved by conductor Leonard Bernstein who released it with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1996) and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1964) as well as devoting a whole episode of his TV show, "Young People's Concerts" (1958-1972) to the piece.

Answer: Julius Reubke

Reubke wrote "Sonata on the 94th Psalm" (1857) while studying piano with Liszt and staying at his house in Altenburg, Germany. The piece has been recorded many times by a variety of concert organists and remains a favourite for its intricacies and technical requirements.
Throughout his life, Liszt taught many hundreds of students including pianists, violinists, cellists, composers and conductors, but he refused to charge for his lessons, unlike many of his contemporaries who often insisted on a large fee for imparting their wisdom.

Answer: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Liszt wrote 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies and this is by far the most well known, often referred to as "Duelling Pianos".
It was originally published in 1847 and has featured in several movies and TV shows as well as becoming a firm favourite with cartoonists.
It has appeared in the Betty Boop cartoon "Betty in Blunderland" (1934), Bugs Bunny's "What's Up Doc" (1950), several episodes of "Taz- Mania" (1991-95) and "The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries" (1996-99).

Answer: Symphonic Poems

Liszt was inspired by Richard Wagner and built on ideas from Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Mozart and Joseph Haydn to create his symphonic poems which are complete musical pieces that resemble a non musical source such as a poem, short story or painting.
Liszt's "Orpheus" (1854), "Prometheus" (1850-55) and "Hamlet" (1858-61) are all good examples of his symphonic poems.