Liszt for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian pianist and composer who lived from 1811 to 1886. Many people who heard him called him the greatest pianist of his time. He was among the first to give whole concerts alone at the piano, and crowds treated him like a star. The best first piece for a child is the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, which starts slow and serious and ends in a wild, fast dance.

Quick facts

• Born: 1811, in Raiding, then part of Hungary
• Died: 1886, in Bayreuth, Germany
• Era: Romantic
• Played: piano
• Known for: the Hungarian Rhapsodies, “La campanella,” “Liebestraum,” and the solo piano recital

The life in short

Liszt’s father worked on the estate of the Esterházy family, the same princes who had employed Haydn. He played the cello and taught his son the piano.

By nine, Franz was playing in public. Wealthy listeners paid for him to study in Vienna. His teacher there, Carl Czerny, had been a student of Beethoven. Read who taught whom. His teacher has a page too: Czerny for kids.

The family moved to Paris when he was 12. As a young man, he heard the violinist Paganini, who played things no one thought a violin could do. Liszt decided to do the same on the piano. He practiced for hours each day to get there.

For about eight years, he toured Europe and gave well over a thousand concerts. He played from memory, which was new. He turned the piano sideways so the audience could see his hands. He called his concerts “recitals,” and the name stuck.

At 35, he stopped touring. He settled in the German town of Weimar as a conductor, and there he wrote much of his orchestral music.

In his later years, he taught pianists from all over the world and charged them nothing. He also helped other composers by conducting and playing their music.

What the music sounds like

Liszt’s piano music uses the whole keyboard. Hands cross, leap, and race. It can thunder, and it can whisper.

He wrote 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies based on tunes he heard Roma bands play in Hungary. He also invented a new kind of orchestra piece that tells a story in one movement. It is called a symphonic poem or a tone poem.

Four pieces to play first

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The first half is slow and proud. The second half is a fast dance that speeds up to a dizzy finish. Cartoon makers have used it many times. Read Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 for kids.

“La campanella.” The title means “the little bell.” A high note rings again and again while the right hand jumps to reach it. Liszt based it on a tune by Paganini. Read Paganini for kids.

“Liebestraum” No. 3. The title means “dream of love.” A slow, singing tune sits in the middle of the piano, shared between the two thumbs, with ripples above and below.

Piano Concerto No. 1, the scherzo section. Listen for the triangle. Giving a triangle a solo part in a concerto was so unusual that one critic mocked the piece as a “triangle concerto.” Read the triangle, the tambourine, and the castanets.

Things to do together

Find the bell. Play “La campanella.” Ask your child to tap a glass with a spoon each time the high bell note rings.

Slow to fast. Play the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Walk with heavy steps in the slow part. Dance when the fast part begins.

Watch the hands. Find a video of a pianist playing a Liszt piece. Watch for hands that cross over each other.

Sideways piano. Ask your child why Liszt turned the piano sideways. Then look at how pianos sit on a concert stage today.

The first recital

Before Liszt, a concert was a mix of singers, players, and an orchestra. Liszt showed that one person at one piano could hold a hall for a whole evening. Solo recitals today still follow his plan.

Print and play

Fill in a composer study notebook page for Liszt. To learn how his instrument works, read piano for kids. For the composers around him, see Romantic era music for kids and Chopin for kids.

For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.