Liszt F. Hungarian Rhapsodies № 8 & № 12

  
     The Hungarian Rhapsodies by Ferenz Liszt (1811–1886) belong to the most brilliant and novel compositions. The great master of piano managed to work out the folklore origins, basing the musical canvas of these rhapsodies. The musicologist Mikhail Druskin marked, «…the twenty one pieces from the Hungarian Melodies and Rhapsodies (1840–1848) to have become the initial project of the future large-scaled cycle. Many of the tunes entered the rhapsodies' material». «I derived resources, — Liszt uttered concerning these themes, — everywhere I found them: firstly from my own children reminiscences, descending from Bihari and other gypsy kings, then I ladled them out of the fields, right in the thick of the Edenburgh, Presburg and Pest's gypsy orchestras. Finally, I learned by heart and reproduced numerous tunes, which were generously reported to me by means of piano or just written down…»