Liszt and His Pupils

Franz Liszt has long been considered one of the great piano teachers of his generation. More than 400 students are known to have passed through his hands and a number of them became eminent. Some of them lived well into the age of the gramophone record and give us a glimpse of a golden age of piano playing now vanished forever. In this lecture Alan Walker explores Liszt’s approach to teaching and especially his reluctance to give instruction in technique. When Liszt’s biographer Lina Ramann asked him to explain the origins of his mastery of the keyboard, Liszt replied: “Technique should create itself from Spirit, not from Mechanics.” The idea is profound and Professor Walker returns to it in his presentation. Some viewers have drawn attention to the unwanted background clicks you hear in this lecture. They were caused by a teleprompter used to capture the text. Music selections: Yundi Li playing “La Campanella” at the beginning and the end. Moriz Rosenthal playing Chopin/Liszt “Meine Freuden.” Frederic Lamond playing Liszt’s Concert Etude “Un Sospiro”. Emil von Sauer playing Liszt’s Concert Etude “Gnomenreigen”.