Hungarian Rhapsodies
The three czárdás that Liszt wrote—titled "Czárdás", "Czárdás obstinée" and "Czárdás macabre"—are less freely treated than the Hungarian Rhapsodies and remain more specifically Hungarian than gypsy in thematic material. Their spare lines, angular rhythms and advanced harmonies show these pieces to be direct ancestors of Bartók's work. Because of these attributes, the czárdás are considered by Liszt scholars among the more interesting of the composer's late output. The same, some critics argue, cannot be said as uniformly about his Hungarian Rhapsodies 16-19, composed after he had neglected the genre 30 years. Of these four late rhapsodies, only the last contains the variety, vivacity and sweep of the best of the earlier ones to make it effective in concert; the others fail to become satisfactory pieces due to their fragmentary treatment. The final rhapsody is based on themes from Ábrányi's "Csárdás nobles"; the other three are based on original material.