ABRSM
Composer Childhood Series - Liszt
Broken but Beautiful
Franz Liszt was born on October 22, 1811 in Hungary. He had a very difficult childhood, where he constantly battled sickness, tragedy, and poverty. In the beginning, it had been his father Adam Liszt’s own dream to become a musician. He played piano, violin, violoncello, and guitar; Adam also knew Haydn, Hummel and Beethoven personally.
At age six, Franz began listening attentively to his father’s piano playing as well as to show an interest in both sacred and gypsy music. Adam recognized his son’s musical talent early. He began teaching Franz the piano at age seven and Franz began composing in an elementary manner when he was eight.
Few years later, Liszt moved to Vienna and received piano lessons from Carl Czerny. His public debut in Vienna at the age of 11, it was a great success. He was greeted in Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic circles and also met Beethoven and Schubert. The following year, at a second concert, Beethoven was reputed to have kissed Liszt on the forehead.
After his father’s death Liszt returned to Paris; for the next five years he was to live with his mother in a small apartment. To earn money, Liszt gave lessons in piano playing and composition, often from early morning until late at night. As a result of his exceptional talent, his students were scattered across the city and he often had to cross long distances. Because of this, Liszt kept uncertain hours, and Liszt again fell ill, there was even an obituary notice of him printed in a Paris newspaper. During this period Liszt read widely to overcome his lack of a general education.
Finally, at the age of 21, after attending Paganini’s charity concert for the victims of a Parisian cholera epidemic, Liszt became determined to become as great a virtuoso on the piano as Paganini was on the violin. Soon after he worked closely with Chopin, under his influence Liszt’s poetic and romantic side began to develop.