Transcendental Étude No. 5 in B-flat "Feux follets" (Will o' the Wisp

Will o' the wisp

A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...

) is the fifth etude

Étude

An étude , is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano...

 of the set 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...

.

Difficulties

As with the other works in the Études, Feux follets went through three versions, the first being Étude en douze exercises from 1826, the second being Douze études d'execution transcendentale from 1838, and third, an 1851 revision of the 1838 set. It is this last version, from 1851, that is most often performed, most of the demands of the 1838 version being trimmed down and refined. Its rapid double-note passages in the right hand accompanied by wide broken interval

Interval (music)

In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...

s in the left are especially notorious and difficult to play. It reaches several climaxes that are technically demanding and ends in pianissimo arpeggios. Despite the mechanical difficulties of the work, its greatest challenge lies in doing justice to its whimsical and mysterious character. Pianissimo and leggierissimo markings abound in the double note sections making it more difficult to play. It is one of the most technically difficult pieces of the whole set.