Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, the second and most famous of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies composed for piano by Franz Liszt between 1846–53. Originally composed in 1851 for solo piano, the work was soon converted into orchestral form by Liszt’s colleague, Franz Doppler, who also added a piano duet version more than two decades after the original solo work.
In the mid-19th century, many European regions experienced a surge of national fervor and cultural pride. Especially within the vast Austrian Empire, various formerly suppressed ethnic groups began to exert themselves, and music was considered an ideal tool for expressing their cultural heritage and nationalist sentiments. Among the many regions controlled by Austria was Hungary, which, at this time in history, had no more zealous musical proponent than pianist/composer/conductor Franz Liszt.
Born in what is now Austria of Hungarian heritage, Liszt spent most of his life abroad; although his grasp of the Hungarian language was highly limited, this did not prevent him from loving his native land. On visits to Hungary in the 1840s, he compiled a collection of folk melodies, drawn from both the Magyar and the Romany (Gypsy) traditions. These pieces served as source material for Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. There are 19 solo piano works under that collective title; Liszt or his friends and colleagues transcribed six of them for orchestral performance. The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor exists in both forms, with only small changes—mostly to the length of phrases—between the two.
The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 opens in a dark and dramatic mood with strong low chords. Dotted rhythms of alternating short and long notes borrowed straight from Hungarian folk dances become prominent. These slow opening pages gradually lead to brisk and energetic ones, just as folk dances may pick up the pace with time. In this aspect, the rhapsody bears a particular resemblance to the Hungarian dance known as the czárdás or csárdás. These rapidly paced later pages sometimes have a light touch, but at other times they are all flash and fire. For the last page or so, the music rises and falls like the rolling hills of Eastern Europe. Whether in the original solo piano version or the subsequent orchestration, it is music rich with Hungarian heritage. It is also well known to listeners, at least in part because it has figured in numerous 20th century film scores such as the Marx Brothers’A Night in Casablanca (1946) and Robert Zemeckis’s animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), as well as several Looney Tunes shorts.