Franz Liszt was a Hungarian pianist, composer, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. He was born in the village of Doborján, Hungary (now Raiding, Austria) to Adam Liszt and Maria Anna Liszt (nee Lager) on October 22, 1811. His father worked at the court of Prince Esterházy and was himself a pianist and cellist. He provided Franz with his first music lessons at the age of six. Franz quickly displayed incredible talent. By twelve he had become a remarkable concert artist. Liszt studied and played in Vienna and Paris for most of his early adult life, and toured throughout Europe. He is credited with the innovation of the modern piano recital. Although Liszt was one of the greatest pianists in history, noted for his showmanship and great skill, no recordings of his playing exist.
Liszt was a prolific composer and many of his piano compositions are among the most technically challenging in the repertoire, including the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and Transcendental Etudes. He invented the symphonic poem which is a single-movement orchestral work based on a literary work or character sketch. He is also the first inventor of impressionism and atonal music. Liszt was the first to perform entirely from memory, which has become today's standard.
Franz Liszt was an active conductor, teacher and performer to the end of his life. He helped found the Liszt School of Music Weimar as well as the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. The archetypal Romantic composer died in Bayreuth, Germany, on July 31, 1886, as a result of pneumonia which he contracted during the Bayreuth Festival hosted by his daughter Cosima.
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