La Campanella

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La Campanella (Italian: little bell, hand bell) in G sharp minor is the 3rd  etude of the Six Grandes Etudes de Paganini for piano by the composer and pianist Franz Liszt .

The piece is based on a theme from the last movement of the violinist Niccolò Paganini's 2nd  violin concerto in B minor , a rondo in which the harmonies are supported by the ringing of a hand bell.

Liszt had already used the theme in his Variations Grande Fantaisie de Bravoure on 'La Clochette' de Paganini in B minor (1831–1832) for piano. He then reworked the piece in the third étude of the 12 Études d'exécution transcendante in A minor. The final version of the Grandes Etudes de Paganini , now the most popular and most frequently played, is notated in G sharp minor. The etude is played at a medium tempo ( Allegretto ) and is basically a sequence of different finger exercises for the right hand: at the beginning there are huge staccato jumps of the right hand (thumb to little finger up to 2 octaves ), for which the piece is notorious is. This is followed by exercises for tensioning the right hand ( arpeggios over 2 octaves), octave finger change exercises, trills, runs with almost exclusive participation of the weaker fingers, ascending sequences of sixth fourth chords and finally chromatic octave runs. Since the difficulties are limited to the right hand, the piece is not as difficult for large, trained hands as it is commonly portrayed. Above all, it is a very effective piece that is often given as an encore (e.g. by the pianist Emil Gilels ).

See also

Sound sample

La Campanella , played by Romuald Greiss on a Budynowicz piano from 1850: Listen ? / iAudio file / audio sample

Web links