Transcendental Etude No. 1 in C "Preludio" is the first of twelve Transcendental Etudes

Transcendental Etudes

The Transcendental Etudes , S.139, are a series of twelve compositions for solo piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of a more technically difficult 1837 series, which in turn were the elaboration of a set of studies written in 1826:...

 by 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...

. It is a short piece which can be played in less than a minute at concert speed.

Form

Octaved Cs begin the piece, immediately followed by a downward run made up of an arpeggiated C7 chord. A furious set of impetuous notes then climb slowly, and it returns to the octaved Cs and the downward run. The furious set of notes climbs even higher and a set of loud chord

Chord (music)

A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...

s blare in fff. The left hand then plays some loud, low pitched trill

Trill (music)

The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill....

s in succession. After that, the right hand plays some intense arpeggiated figures, and then a final closing chord. This etude is one of the easiest to play along with Transcendental Etude No.3 (Paysage). But by no means should it be underestimated.