# Transcendental Études

The Transcendental Études (French: Études d'exécution transcendante), S.139, is a set of twelve compositions for piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set (which had not borne the title "d'exécution transcendante"), which in turn were – for the most part – an elaboration of a set of studies written in 1826.
| Name | Key |
| No. 1 Preludio | C major |
| No. 2 (Molto Vivace) | A minor |
| No. 3 Paysage | F major |
| No. 4 Mazeppa | D minor |
| No. 5 Feux follets | B♭ major |
| No. 6 Vision | G minor |
| No. 7 Eroica | E♭ major |
| No. 8 Wilde Jagd | C minor |
| No. 9 Ricordanza | A♭ major |
| No. 10 (Allegro agitato molto) | F minor |
| No. 11 Harmonies du soir | D♭ major |
| No. 12 Chasse-neige | B♭ minor |

## History

The genesis of the Transcendental Études goes back to 1825, when 14-year-old Liszt wrote a set of youthful exercises called the Étude en douze exercices (Study in twelve exercises), S.136. These pieces were not particularly technically demanding. Liszt then returned to these pieces for thematic ideas, elaborating on them considerably, in the composition of the Douze Grandes Études (Twelve Grand Studies), S.137, which were published in 1837.
The Transcendental Études, S.139, are revisions of the Douze Grandes Études. The fourth was altered and published alone as Mazeppa in late 1846, and the collection as a whole was published in 1852 and dedicated to Carl Czerny, Liszt's piano teacher, and himself a prolific composer of études. Liszt made numerous textual changes in the final revision of the set, adapting the technical demands to facilitate execution on pianos with heavier keyboard action.
When revising the 1837 set of études into their final "Transcendental" versions, Liszt added programmatic titles in French and German to all but two of the pieces, Études Nos. 2 and 10. In his edition of the work, Ferruccio Busoni respectively called them Fusées (Rockets) and Appassionata, and these titles are occasionally used in modern performance. However, these alternate titles were never approved by Liszt himself, and, generally, in scholarly reference, in performance, and in authoritative urtext editions like those published by G. Henle Verlag, these two études are referred to only by their performance indications: Molto vivace and Allegro agitato molto, respectively.
Liszt's original idea was to write 24 études, one in each of the 24 major and minor keys. He completed only half of this project, using the neutral and flat key signatures. In 1897–1905 the Russian composer Sergei Lyapunov wrote his own set of Douze études d'exécution transcendante, Op. 11, continuing Liszt's cycle through the keys that Liszt had not used, namely the sharp keys, to "complete" the set of 24. Lyapunov's set of études was dedicated to the memory of Liszt, and bore titles as Liszt's set had done, with the final étude being entitled Élégie en mémoire de Franz Liszt.
Very few pianists have recorded the 1837 set, and even fewer have recorded the 1826 set (which really are works of Liszt's juvenilia). Leslie Howard is the only pianist to have recorded all three sets on a major label for international release, as part of his series of recordings for Hyperion of the complete solo piano music of Liszt.

## Selected recordings of the complete set

| Pianist | Recorded | Label |
| Alexander Borovsky | 1956 | Vox |
| György Cziffra | 1957–1958 | EMI |
| Lazar Berman | 1963 | Melodiya |
| Claudio Arrau | 1974–1976 | Philips |
| Russell Sherman | 1976 | Vanguard |
| Michael Ponti | 1982 | Leo Records |
| Josef Bulva | 1983 | Orfeo Records |
| Jerome Rose | 1984 | Cum Laude |
| Jorge Bolet | 1985 | Decca |
| Vladimir Ovchinnikov | 1988 | EMI |
| Janice Weber | 1988 | MCA |
| Leslie Howard | 1989 | Hyperion |
| Jenő Jandó | 1994 | Naxos |
| Boris Berezovsky | 1995–1996 | Teldec |
| François-René Duchâble | 1998 | EMI |
| Janina Fialkowska | 2000 | Opening Day Recordings |
| Freddy Kempf | 2001 | BIS |
| Christopher Taylor | 2002 | Liszt Digital |
| Yu Kosuge | 2003 | Sony Classical |
| Bertrand Chamayou | 2005 | Sony |
| Alice Sara Ott | 2009 | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Vesselin Stanev | 2010 | RCA Red Seal |
| Mariangela Vacatello | 2010 | Brilliant Classics |
| Mélodie Zhao | 2011 | Claves Records |
| Vadym Kholodenko | 2013 | Harmonia Mundi |
| Kirill Gerstein | 2016 | Myrios |
| Daniil Trifonov | 2016 | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Mordecai Shehori | 2018 | Cembal d'amour |
| Yunchan Lim | 2022 | live in Fort Worth, Steinway & Sons |
| Sandro Russo | 2024 | Steinway & Sons |

## Other works with a similar title

* Sergei Lyapunov, 12 Études d'exécution transcendante, Op. 11 (1897–1905)
* Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Études transcendantes (100) (1940–44), commonly known as 100 Transcendental Studies
* Brian Ferneyhough, Études transcendantales for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble (1982–85)