Liszt wrote fifteen compositions for the pianoforte, to which he gave the name of Rhapsodies Hongroises; they are based on national Magyar melodies. Of these he, assisted by Franz Doppler, scored six for orchestra. There is considerable confusion between the pianoforte set and the orchestral transcriptions, in the matter of numbering. Some of the orchestral transcriptions, too, are transposed to different keys from the originals. Here are the lists of both sets.
I. In E-flat major, dedicated to E. Zerdahely.
II. In C-sharp minor and F-sharp major, dedicated to Count Ladislas Teleki.
III. In B-flat major, dedicated to Count Leo Festetics.
IV. In E-flat major, dedicated to Count Casimir Eszterházy.
V. _Héroïde élégiaque_, in E minor, dedicated to Countess Sidonie Reviczky.
VI. In D-flat major, dedicated to Count Antoine d'Apponyi.
VII. In D minor, dedicated to Baron Fery Orczy.
VIII. In F-sharp minor, dedicated to M. A. d'Augusz.
IX. _Le Carnaval de Pesth_, in E-flat major, dedicated to H. W. Ernst.
X. _Preludio_, in E major, dedicated to Egressy Bény.
XI. In A minor, dedicated to Baron Fery Orczy.
XII. In C-sharp minor, dedicated to Joseph Joachim.
XIII. In A minor, dedicated to Count Leo Festetics.
XIV. In F minor, dedicated to Hans von Bülow.
I. In F minor (No. 14 of the original set).
II. Transposed to D minor (No. 12 " " " ").
III. Transposed to D major (No. 6 " " " ").
IV. Transposed to D minor and G major (No. 2 " " " ").
VI. _~Pesther~ Carneval_, transposed to D major (No. 9 " " " ").
The dedications remain the same as in the original set.
August Spanuth, now the editor of the _Signale_ in Berlin, wrote _inter alia_ of the Rhapsodies in his edition prepared for the Ditsons:
"After Liszt's memorable visit to his native country in 1840 he freely submitted to the influence of the gipsy music. The catholicity of his musical taste, due to his very sensitive and receptive nature as well as his cosmopolitan life, would have enabled him to usurp the musical characteristics of any nation, no matter how uncouth, and work wonders with them. His versatility and resourcefulness in regard to form seemed to be inexhaustible, and he would certainly have been able to write some interesting fantasias on Hungarian themes had his affection for that country been only acquired instead of inborn. Fortunately his heart was in the task, and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies not only rank among his most powerful and convincing works, but must also be counted as superior specimens of national music in general. It does not involve an injustice toward Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert, who occasionally affected Hungarian peculiarities in their compositions, to state that it was Liszt who with his rhapsodies and kindred compositions started a new era of Hungarian music. 'Tunes' which heretofore served to amuse a motley crowd at the czardas on the 'Puszta' have through Liszt been successfully introduced into legitimate music. And most wonderful of all, he has not hesitated to preserve all the drastic and coarse effects of the gipsy band without ever leaning toward vulgarity. Who, before Franz Liszt, would have dreamed of employing cymbal-effects in legitimate piano playing? Liszt, such is the power of artistic transfiguration, imitates the cymbal to perfection and yet does not mar the illusion of refinement; while, on the other hand, the cymbal as a solo instrument must still impress us as primitive and rude. Liszt did not conceive the Hungarian music with his outer ear alone, as most of his numerous imitators did. They caught but the outline, some rhythmical features and some stereotyped ornaments; but Liszt was able to penetrate to the very source of it, he carried the key to its secret in his Hungarian temperament.