Best Sheet Music Editions for Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt was a virtuosic Hungarian composer and pianist of the Romantic Era. He was born in 1811 and passed away in 1886. His music is known for the advance technique that is required to perform successfully. Any aspiring concert pianist must learn his music, which includes his piano etudes, Hungarian etudes, transcriptions, and paraphrases.

Experts suggest that the Editio Musica Budapest, or EMB edition, is the best edition for any of Liszt’s piano works. They are quite expensive. Henle is the second most recommended edition.

Warning

Do not use the Sauer edition by Edition Peters. This is known for containing numerous typos and other contentious editorial markings.

Also, the Maurice Henson edition of Liszt’s piano works by Alfred Masterwork is reported to have a number of typos as well.

Liszt Paganini Etudes

Editio Musica Budapest (EMB)

Edited by Adrienne Kaczmarczyk. This edition, published in 2014, is considered the leading edition for any of Liszt’s piano music. This edition contains an overview, manuscript copies, and earlier editions of the score that received great attention. Though this edition is pricey, it is highly recommended for those who want to study Liszt’s music seriously. This edition includes the Transcendental etudes and other works by Liszt.

Click here to see a sample of the EMB edition of Liszt Paganini Etudes.

Etudes d’Execution Transcendante d’apres Paganini Bravourstudien nach Paganini’s Capricen and Other Works

This edition contains only the Paganini Etudes. It was published in 2003 and contains 55 pages. Consider buying this edition if you only wish to purchase the Paganini Etudes.

Grandes Etudes de Paganini: Piano Solo

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Schirmer Edition

While the Schirmer edition is notoriously known for containing many errors and typos, the Liszt Paganini etudes are an exception. Edited by Paulo Gallico, father of the famous Paul Gallico, in 1903, this edition is critically revised, and features great details for fingering, pedaling, phrasing, and dynamics.

In the preface, Paulo Gallico mentions briefly about the different editions of Liszt’s Paganini Etudes, how the first publishing by Tobias Haslinger in 1839 was too difficult to perform, and 12 years later, the revised Breitkopf and Hartel edition was published.

Paulo Gallico also gives practice suggestions for certain passages of the etudes. and multiple fingering suggestions for those who may have smaller hands.

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Dover Edition

Edited by Ferruccio Busoni. This inexpensive edition features The Paganini Etudes, the concert etudes, and more! It was published in 1989 and contains 192 pages. The two volumes of the Dover edition include all of Liszt piano etudes. Consider buying this edition if you want a compact copy of all the Liszt piano etudes. Click on the image for more information.

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Complete Etudes for Solo Piano, Series II: Including the Paganini Etudes and Concert Etudes (Dover Music for Piano)

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Liszt – Transcendental Etudes

Editio Musica Budapest (EMB)

(This edition is located in the Paganini Etude Section)

Henle Verlag Urtext

Edited by Ernst-Günter Heinemann with fingering by Liszt himself. Preface by Mária Eckhardt.

The twelve Transcendental Etudes of Liszt are contained in 131 pages with the Henle Verlag Urtext. It was published in 2010. Includes introduction notes and commentary.

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Transcendental Studies

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Dover Edition

Edited by Ferruccio Busoni. This inexpensive edition features not only the Transcendental Etudes, but many other Etudes by Liszt as well.

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Complete Etudes for Solo Piano, Series I: Including the Transcendental Etudes (Dover Music for Piano)

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Trois Etudes De Concert (Three Concert Etudes)

Contains the Lament, La Leggierezza, and the famous Un sospero.

Editio Musica Budapest (EMB)

Edited in 1971 by Zoltan Gardonyi and Istvan Szelenyi.

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Henle Verlag Urtext

Edited by Rena Charnin Mueller and fingering by the composer himself.

Click here to read the preface and critical commentary with this Henle edition of Liszt Trois Etudes.

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Two Concert Etudes

Budapest Edition (EMB)

contains Ab Irato as well.

Click here to see a sample of the Budapest Edition of Liszt two concert etudes.

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Henle Verlag Urtext

Edited by Rena Charnin Mueller. Rena Charnin Mueller was the recipient of the 2011 Liszt Medal by the American Liszt Society.

Click here to read the critical commentary of this Henle edition of Liszt Two Concert Etudes.

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Hungarian Rhapsodies

Budapest Edition

This edition was published in 2011 and contains 114 pages. While this edition is expensive, great care was taken for this critical edition. A well worth investment for hard working pianists.

The Hungarian Rhapsodies are also printed in individual volumes by EMB.

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HUNGARIANS RHAPSODIES Book 1 (1 to 9) for Piano

Henle Verlag Urtext

As of now, the Henle Verlag Urtext has not completed editing all fifteen Hungarian Rhapsodies by Liszt. As of now, Henle has edited hungarian Rhapsodies 2, 6, 9, 12, and fifteen.

These Hungarian Rhapsodies are edited by Ernst Herttrich, fingering by Andreas Groethuysen, and a preface by Mária Eckhardt.

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Dover Edition

The nineteen Hungarian Rhapsodies by Franz Liszt are conveniently located in this one edition. It was reproduced from an expired Russian edition. This edition was published in 1984, and contains 224 pages. Some complaints from users of this editions include small print and difficulty in keeping the score to stay open.

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