Liszt, Franz

Hungarian pianist and composer. An outstanding virtuoso of the piano, he was an established concert artist by the age of 12. His expressive, romantic, and frequently chromatic works include piano music (Transcendental Studies, 1851), Masses and oratorios, songs, organ music, and a symphony. Much of his music is programmatic; he also originated the symphonic poem. Liszt was taught by his father, then by Carl Czerny. He travelled widely in Europe, producing an operetta Don Sanche in Paris, France, at the age of 14. As musical director and conductor at Weimar, Germany, 1848–59, he championed the music of Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner.

Retiring to Rome, Italy, he turned again to his early love of religion, and in 1865 became a secular priest (adopting the title abbé), while continuing to teach and give concert tours for which he also made virtuoso piano arrangements of orchestral works by Beethoven, Schubert, and Wagner. He died in Bayreuth, Germany.