Franz Liszt

Variations de bravoure

Liszt composed three piano works on Paganini's bell theme. The best known of these works is La Campanella (1851). The Clochette fantasia, that is the Grande Fantaisie de bravoure sur la Clochette de Paganini (1831-1834) as well as the early version of the F sharp minor study, the Campanella (1838) in A flat minor are much less played. Liszt composed a fourth piano work on the campanelle theme. Similar to the preceding it is a series of variations. The second theme is also taken from Paganini: it is the theme of a variation series known with the title The Carnival in Venice.