Virtuosity and the Musical Work: The Transcendental Studies of Liszt

This book is about three sets of etudes by Liszt: the Etude en douze exercices (1826); its reworking as Douzes grandes etudes (1837); and their reworking as Douzes etudes d'execution transcendante (1851). It is also a book about nineteenth-century instrumental music in general because the three works invite the exploration of features characteristic of the early Romantic era in music. These include a composer-performer culture; the concept of virtuosity; the significance of recomposition; music and the poetic; and the consolidation of a musical work-concept.