Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt was born on October 22, 1811 in the village of Raiding, Hungary--Sopron, Hungary. Liszt's parents were of German descent (as were many Hungarians) and spoke mostly German. The only time they spoke Hungarian, was when they had to deal with folks from their village; nonetheless, Liszt, is considered to be a Hungarian composer by everyone today, even if some would refer to him as a "German" during his lifetime (e.g., Nietzsche and Wagner would refer to Liszt as a "German" in their writings)....

Liszt's father was employed by Prince Nicholas II Esterhazy (one of the royal families of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), and he personally knew Hummel, Haydn and Beethoven. He was a second rate musician. Few if any would have guessed that he'd father one of Europe's greatest musicians.

Liszt received his first piano lessons from Carl Czerny. Czerny had studied with Hummel and Beethoven. Today, Czerny is famous for his piano exercises some of whom Liszt used as models for his own piano etudes.

Liszt gave his first piano recital in 1821 and it was uphill from there on. Liszt met Beethoven and Schubert around this time.

By the 1830's Liszt had become the latest rage in Europe as a virtuoso pianist, but as a composer he was relatively unknown. It was during this time that he met Marie d'Agoult, herself a great writer, in a time when women were scarcely thought of.

Liszt met Paganini around the same time as he did d'Agoult. Liszt was determined to become as great on the piano as Paganini was at the violin. And, succeeded he did.

In 1847, Liszt met the Princess Wittgenstein who persuaded him to concentrate more on composition. Eventually, Liszt left the concert stage to do just that.

Liszt died in July 31, 1886 and by this time, he was considered to be one of Europe's greatest all around musicians; he was a great pianist, a great composer, and a great conductor....

Liszt was one of the creators of "Program Music," alongside Berlioz and Wagner; Liszt was the creator of the "Symphonic Poem," which would dominate musical thought throughout Europe from then on. Strauss, Mahler, Smetana and Saint Saens, were amongst the few heavily influenced by Liszt's ideas of recycling themes from one movement into another, in symphonies, as well as other musical compositions.

If one were to compare Liszt to Chopin, as it's often done. One might say Liszt is the dramatist of the two, whereas Chopin is the poet. However, comparing the two should be done as little as possible, as they are quite different in their approaches to composition. Writers Dostoevsky and Tolstoy would be the best example which comes to mind, and ironically enough; Dostoevsky and Tolstoy couldn't be more different from each other if they tried. Many have said that Liszt was the closest any composer has come in emulating Beethoven's compositional approach to music....

Liszt's piano music is considered to be amongst the most difficult of all to perform. And again, using Beethoven and Chopin as examples. Many might argue that both Beethoven and Chopin showed more musical depth in their compositions; however, likewise, few would argue that Beethoven and Chopin's piano compositions are as technically challenging as Liszt's are....

Liszt also wrote a great deal of orchestral music....

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liszt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(book)
http://www.sras.org/tolstoy_and_dostoevsky