Liszt Three Concert Etudes S.144 No.3 "Un Sospiro" (Hamelin)

[@Yonaseen]

If any of you fellow pianists desire to play this masterpiece of a song but are discouraged by the complexity and appearance of the sheet music, don’t be. My wonderful piano teacher helped me decipher this piece, and showed how logical all the parts are. First of all, you should obviously be using both hands for the kind of phrases found in the beginning. Also, most of the piece follows scales that repeat the same notes going up and down, the scales just change throughout the music. Most of the piece is not hard as if you inspect each “difficult” section like the part around the middle before the scale change when everything goes down, you’ll find all the patterns and tricks Liszt used to compose the piece. Good luck to all you pianists learning this intimidating piece!

[@turnleftaticeland]

thank you!

[@fumikotsukumi017]

Yonaseen Many thanks to you!

[@SZ-wb1qb]

most important tip: jump around, don't twist your wrist

[@tonimikael]

Thank you!

[@Yonaseen]

@Devin Belver I would definitely recommend you watch musicians that play with an overhead view of the hands, such as Rousseau and Paul Barton for this piece. Just sit down with the sheet music in hand and take notes while making observations. It might be boring, but it will pay off for all the time you won't have to spend fiddling around with fingerings! :)

[@carlosgarcia4573]

Probably one of the best musical compositions ever made by the man.

[@JeMartele]

..and played by man as well ~!

[@irvnz]

koalah Beaeur972 IO meant played by a human .."by man" .. not by Liszt personally

[@liizoni]

I remember the first time I heard this I made a new friend and she was a very skilled pianist and she began playing it and literally 2 seconds in I was blown away and completely mesmerized it's one of my most treasured high school memories

[@MildSatire]

Did anyone ask?

[@AlbertAlbertB.]

If only you met a linguist.

[@clammy5449]

@@MildSatireno one asked for your opinion either, yet we are forced to suffer your vitriol.

[@dwacheopus]

​@@MildSatirelol

[@screamingpiano]

I learned this (very badly) as a 17 year old right before I entered music school, I even performed this at a recital by memory.... re-learning 7 years later & I still find it extremely difficult. But totally worth learning... multiple times over my life time. Maybe when I am 80 years old I will play it half as beautiful as this recording...

[@ronaldregan7388]

@screamingpiano Yeah right. You'll play it like a sloth

[@sacc2388]

@@ronaldregan7388 damn dude

[@HeyKevinYT]

I believe you can do it

[@tbiggy03]

Lol

[@soup7776]

@@ronaldregan7388bruh

[@MrNeilsy]

This is absolutely one of my favorite Liszt compositions of all time. Gorgeous!

[@ShreyaChoudhuryMusic]

MrNeilsy I know, me too!! This piece literally has me in a wreck right now from crying so hard, out of joy! 😭🎶Loved it!

[@ShreyaChoudhuryMusic]

This just brought tears to my eyes. Literally one of the most beautiful compositions of Franz Liszt. So so beautiful!!😭😭😭😭

[@showcasebrix8740]

same

[@pianoprodigy987]

Hamelin is that rare pianist that can make me hear a thousand new things in a piece I thought I knew completely...

[@antoniot.9002]

Thats a very accurate definition for Hamelin!! Totally agree

[@justin10292000]

Marc-Andre Hamelin, one of the greatest pianists of our time, playing the music of one of the greatest pianists of ALL time. And this is LIVE! Beautiful music wonderfully played. Thank you for posting this!

[@bigdjean]

Even the sheet is nice, seems like a drawing.

[@xuly3129]

It looks like a piece for three hands. Top line student, bottom two lines teacher.

[@НиканорМурусьив]

🤣

[@jojomusic937]

Look at the scales of te chords at the first of. It's like the SIN in math 😂 i love it

[@christopherlau6982]

**Sees beginning** Oh, this isn't too bad! **Sees B Section** NOPE BYE

[@harbinger401]

Story of my life

[@Justin-lf7xx]

Never expect a liszt piece to be easy

[@BennettLee8888]

Justin S. Only easy Liszt are consolations and liebestraum

[@Justin-lf7xx]

+Bennett Lee and that's why they sound kinda nice compared to most of his other works

[@rxyl1220]

a lot of list's late works are pretty easy to play.

[@themadmuggleify]

This piece is on my dream list.... *sigh

[@conorhughes1]

Dream Liszt...

[@shadowshotrambo3026]

+Franz Liszt The puns are real

[@MrYoutooblol]

un sospiro = a sigh

[@themadmuggleify]

Sum Yung Gai omg

[@NoahJohnson1810]

you guys are pathetique

[@silverpixel2]

Listening to Liszt's compositions always makes my heart ache. In a good way, of course.

[@Lukecash12]

One of the most beautiful strings of thoughts anyone has ever had. Such music and the contemplation that comes along with it is, IMHO, a gift from God.

[@RubixB0y]

*gift from Liszt Credit otherwise bestowed would be a disservice.

[@HeyKevinYT]

The German 6th chord after 1:52 always gives me chills. You can hear it echo throughout the entire cadenza. What an astounding interpretation by Mr. Marc-André.

[@fabptitpom]

You know the music is extremely beautiful, when the sheet is looking beautiful as well. Just the first pages, you can see how perfect this left hand is...

[@kinglollypop87]

... The last line of sheet music doesn't correspond with the actual part. Hamelin play's Liszt's alternate ending, you have the more common one.

[@BettyAlexandriaPride]

kinglollypop87 Ok, I kept rewinding questioning my ability to read sheet music. Thank you for the clarification.

[@danhodgkins6310]

Thanks for the clarification. For a moment I thought I can’t read notes👌😅

[@lynellaycock7628]

@@BettyAlexandriaPride, I did, too! Glad to have the question answered.

[@rogerhfisher]

I have loved this wonderful piece my whole life, but Hamelin makes me think I have never heard it before! Melting gold and sparkling diamonds. Amazing ...

[@normanefox]

I have been listening to this piece whenever I need to calm down. When I listen to this piece, I don't need to think of anything else or daydream. The music itself generates a heavenly moment. It brings me peace. No, I'm not a mystic.

[@raa-jj]

Ten years later, I agree.

[@TopRameen13]

I just created a youtube account and the first thing I did was come to this video so I can like it. A great performance of an even greater composition. Liszt definitely got it right by naming this piece "A Sigh". I don't know about you guys but I always find myself sighing at the end of this piece because of the sheer beauty i just heard.

[@potatotomato6094]

Lol

[@MissHappyAllTheTime]

It almost sounds like a harp with just the piano playing the top part. Its so methodical and beautiful.

[@fulviozanoni8450]

C'est la meilleure interprétation que j'ai jamais entendue. Très intense et poétique.

[@raiderforlife9989]

one of my friends has self teached himself for 9 years now and he plays this song so perfect it really is just beautiful

[@MorbidMayem]

great story

[@kayenta33]

*self-taught.

[@NoahJohnson1810]

very moving

[@Bogdan_Olszewski]

totally true story, i totally believe.

[@alejandragm6462]

This is gorgeus. It feels like a dream

[@advisorC101]

Just lovely, and thank you for including the score in this fine presentation.

[@Minecraftlover2014]

i cant stop listening to the part at 1:52

[@futureviolinvirtuoso]

Liszt was one of the best of his day... without a doubt :) Perfection doesn't even come close to describe it.

[@orpheusdaughter5653]

I’ve been listening to this on repeat, I can’t get it out of my headdd

[@4thlord51]

this song is the definition of tranquility

[@kuntekimbe]

Thank you for posting with the sheet music, it makes listening so much more valid. I wanted to play this, before I realized there were three staves...Maybe 7 years from now or something.

[@Aaron-ou5mw]

It’s been 9 years. You’ve gotten to this piece yet?

[@MeowItsGhazt]

@@Aaron-ou5mw lol Im curious too

[@OlivierElkan]

11 years later….give us the update my brotha

[@vecenwilliams8172]

13 years, how it going?

[@auron570]

omg can't believe this is a Canadian pianist. Also something about the melody of the song during the first part of the song sounds very east asian, which is interesting because this was performed in tokyo! Amazing performance.

[@ARTalive01]

Truly breath taking great performance from Hamelin.

[@pianocanival]

I'm usually not a big fan of Hamelin when he plays pieces that require lots of colors, rubatos or long lines of melody (for example Debussy). And yet, this is one of the best performances I've ever heard in my life. I guess I stand corrected about Hamelin.

[@nezkeys79]

3:00 is probably the most beautiful music ever created I'm the history of the human race imo

[@BassicStorm1]

3:00 gives me chills... gosh so wonderful o.O!

[@mlmb41796]

the first time I heard this I fell in love and now I'm learning although I know I will never be able to play it as beautifully as this!

[@Jim341046]

Tunefull and experimental - love it. Years ahead of it's time.

[@lamywater]

@ShinichiKudou2008 It is a for a lot of the piece. What you do for the beginning bit and the rest with that same general theme going on is that you alternate which hand plays the melody. Left plays while the right does the upper half of the arpeggio and the right hits the melody while left plays the lower half of the arpeggio. You'll notice this if you check out the direction of the stems

[@benharmonics]

1:34 😮 3:00 😊 4:34 Different ending than in the score

[@tomekkobialka]

Wow I never knew this piece went so crazily difficult in the middle. Thanx for uploading!!!

[@NuggetEternal]

How do you even do that! My fingers, aaaaahhhh!!!

[@emmanuelroberts8583]

It is with a lot of practice and experience. I am about to play this piece even though I am 13 but their’s a lot of practice to do like I said

[@KHHVKimchicel]

And most of all, the pianist is MAH...

[@CKenjiro]

Exactly. Most piano teachers push their students to continue on doing what they love in college and for the rest of their life. The piano exams are what makes a student stand out when applying to a conservatory or university. They help students get into college so they can continue with music for the rest of their life. That's the main reason all the piano teachers I know push their students to take the exams. And as you said, they help students find challenging material that will benefit them.

[@cloudhasgone8851]

I absolutely love this piece. The first time my piano teacher showed me I never forgot and now I wanna learn it

[@superjam18]

I agree. I also like the Ronald Jenkees approach also which is to have fun most importantly

[@siyang2]

thank you so much for posting! :D

[@debit1002]

@BNstudios1 Ideal fingering depends on ur hand size and shape. I use 5321 for the left. Someone with smaller hands might use 5212. Ideal is what's ideal for ur hand.

[@sage4nowty129]

An awesome etude!! An amazing composition! And very well played!!

[@2ndintelligentWorld]

this is so good..

[@paulbukta7631]

Hamelin’s interpretation and technique are unmatched. Un sospiro sparkles in his hands.

[@Arya2611]

omg! I love this! yay! thanks for posting.

[@christypoon5244]

OMG!!!I'm totally in love with this beautiful piece😍☺❣

[@ChemistryAtomistic]

Beautiful piece!

[@robertflynn6686]

To be able to play thisb would be such an overwhelming self experience. Lot of ways like Lebestraum.

[@LukeMD]

REALLY DIFFICOULT !!!!!!!!! And very very good performance !

[@rwbuxton]

Liszt at some point composed an alternate ending that extended the chord progression 4 measures from the end. I think that the alternate version can be found in the Liszt collection edited by pianist Earl Wild for G Schirmer.

[@겨울나무-k6y]

so beautiful i feel that some tears rolling down soon

[@JLGGG908]

simplemente hermoso

[@chimayai]

god..this piece is breathtaking and wonderful example of how bravura but precisely shaded Liszt's work can be. the only one I can play is the "apres lecture un dante"; this and others are a little beyond me, I think.

[@kazzykey]

a little part of me just died, this is simply amazing

[@edtskyline]

La ultima parte no concuerda, lo que toca con ésta partitura...pero fuera de eso, es hermosa, muchas Gracias=D!!!

[@sevrox]

Particularly for virtuosic pieces like this one, technique is especially important. It's not for beginners in piano, it's for concert pianists and people who've been studying piano for an extended amount of time. However, you're right in saying that passion is needed for music. Without passion, there'd be no message to the music, the pianist would just be part of the machine. Levels are so teachers can assess how technically advanced you are. Not how musical you can be.

[@CanberkDuman]

Hmm. Actually you right. I've just started this masterpiece 2 weeks ago. Just one week after the comment. If you memorize the hand moving and arpeggios, it's not actually that hard. La campanella seemed impossible to me, and sure most of pianists thinks in that way. But after working on huge jumps, now i can play it %70-80 speed...

[@alterI4]

this piece is so great! i just finished learning the notes, but its a hard piece to polish up!

[@guiguiguikkkkkk]

1:34 basically this is magnificent

[@Lukecash12]

I almost like his writing here as much as I do Il Lamento, and his sacred works. Definitely, this set of etudes is one of the most composed sets written by the maestro.

[@XLBMummyX]

wow i have to find a song for a powerpoint by Franz Liszt. But because of this and Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, I think I can get into this music.

[@pattycake340]

Thank you Cameron for your answer!!!

[@nickers888]

such a gorgeous piece

[@rishidesai9755]

at 1:35 I feel that the pianist somehow clips off the very high notes or he/she somehow plays all of those high frequency notes at the speed of light, because they are clearly missing. other than that, great performance.

[@leprifacioncustard4921]

He or she probably just touched the key, but did not press down.

[@m.a.3322]

That's the three-hand-effect for ya. Mastered illusion. Fun stuff.

[@ayso78]

@FranzLisztian There's a KZbin vid where Cziffra places his hand on a cast of Liszt's. Liszt's were humongous, probably similar to Cliburn's in size.

[@HandyTheXxxX]

Hamelin's cadenza's are my favourite, always imaginitive.

[@empireentertainmentevents1353]

Probably the most moving pieces Liszt composed. What an amazing talent this Listz is!

[@CherryToppedCupcakes33]

That was beautiful

[@arb73-i8]

my favorite

[@moonberrystarful]

Beautiful, just beautiful. I love it.

[@cowheadcow]

@TamaNewb @tangycheezexists There is sustain pedal used. Most professional scores don't include it because specific instructions for how to pedal is very amateurish.

[@TOproFORthis]

@juantendo8 I think what he/she means is that music like Un Suspiro, Minute Waltz, La Donna E mobile, Companelle, Claire de Lune, was created out of joy and amusement not for money like present day musicians do with their music( Justin Biever, idk who else hahah)

[@mosdomo]

Yes, in fact the average diameter of a piano key nowadays is roughly and inch and a half. give or take. Back in the day, piano keys were only half an inch, requiring a specialized hand contraption to play. It was only though mastery of this contraption that one could prove virtuosity.

[@yuyihome]

The ending is diffirent!! It's so beautiful.

[@anonima7748]

This is so beautiful, damn it, I want to play it!!!!

[@chick225]

i don't think i've ever heard anything like it. it was so beautiful

[@ElRioYunque]

This is so good I want to cry.

[@mosdomo]

@Jim341046 Historically liszt was said to have hands that could cover an 18th

[@ronycamacho7132]

I’m getting the feeling of Melancholy and nostalgia when this is being played.

[@tranceparentcycle]

One simply listens to his Totentanz to know Liszt was a very powerful composer capable of multiple emotions simultaneously.

[@lookitsthatfunnypianokid4924]

i learned this when i was 11.... im still proud of myself

[@Darce223]

@oranghilanghati No sir, there is an alternate ending based around a whole tone scale, which is the one that Hamelin plays :)

[@TheRachMan32]

@CziffraTheThird I have the solo Alfred sheet music for this piece and it includes, in addition to the regular ending, both the alternate, whole-tone scale based ending that Hamlin plays here and a slow, chordal section that would be inserted after the second cadenza, right before measure 53.

[@futureviolinvirtuoso]

perfection! No words can describe it!!

[@liliamoses223]

Малышу нужны беззвучные наушники, чтобы уберечь его барабанные перепонки от повреждения ! Для его возраста желателен разговор шёпотом !

[@liliamoses223]

Вон как нахмурился, для него это очень громко !

[@thrippleton]

Who on earth has big enough hands to play the the bass chord in the left hand,the final chord of the piece? Beats me!

[@nikodurr786]

Rachmaninov ;)

[@brandonli3602]

two hands for bass and then alternate hands cross to hit the top notes.....

[@Sujkhgfrwqqnvf]

Is amazing to be able to hear such "impossible" thing!

[@moboe96]

Such beutiful technique and interpretation.

[@BostonBum15]

Amazing piece. I am learning by ear!

[@thrippleton]

Thankyou, BrandonLi. You must be a very talented technician if you can play this piece well. I would love to be this good.

[@MartynaKulakowska]

this is recording of Hamelin :) BTW what is he playing at the end? another version?

[@UnicornsNeedLove2]

This is played by Marc Hamelin

[@RichmanPiano]

@dave8ization It's the optional ending Liszt wrote. So for some reason, the music that's shown in the recording has the first ending, Hamelin instead played the second ending. I like the second ending better. :D

[@martinbennett2228]

Thanks, I did wonder what was going on.

[@ciliaspippi]

@korlock3000 Yep, that's why it's a concert etude. Beautiful, and educational in technique at the same time.

[@ReneAensland]

This song is called..."A Sigh." ...now I know why. -Rene

[@lisa1212ification]

I can only play the beginning melody of this piece on my piano. Im kinda learning it slowly

[@dclome]

Beautifully player. Thank you.

[@andrewbrenneman563]

So beautiful....

[@charlescg3904]

Whoever said Hamelin was all mechanical technique? This is the most beautiful rendition I've heard yet!