Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 is the first of a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies

Hungarian Rhapsodies

Hungarian Rhapsody redirects here. For the 1979 Hungarian film Hungarian Rhapsody . For the 1928 German film Ungarische Rhapsodie.The Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244, R106, is a set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846-1853, and later in 1882 and 1885...

 by composer Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

. Work on the piece began in 1846 in Klausenberg, and it was published in 1853. The piece, like many in the set, is composed in the csárdás style, signified by two sections: the lassú (slower, first section) and the friss (faster, second section). Also typical for the set, themes in the piece can be traced to earlier sources, specifically Ferenc Erkel and Gáspár Bernát in the first section, and Károly Thern

Károly Thern

Károly Thern was a Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and arranger. He was among the second generation of composers who developed the language of Hungarian art music....

in the second. The gypsy Laci Pócsi and his band are said to have been a source of inspiration for this piece.