Zwei Walzer
  • The Zwei Walzer (S. 208a) written by Liszt for violin and piano were published in 1825. The two waltzes appeared in a collection of eight waltzes called Sieben Walzer - containing three waltzes by H. Payer (unknown), three by Michael Pamer, and two by List [sic]. Sieben Walzer was published by Mathias Artaria of Vienna and can be found in the Archiv der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.
    • Michael Pamer (1782–1827): Viennese composer of waltz, his orchestra supposedly included composer and violinist Joseph Lanner, and Johann Strauss I [the waltz one]. Grove, Lanner and JS I.
    • The Artaria publishing house was founded in Mainz in 1765, moved to Vienna in 1768 - Mathias was the son of Domenico II (second generation of Artaria family, who worked in Mannheim) and published independently of the family firm in Vienna under his own name. Grove.
  • Information about the first waltz is limited, the only mention of it that I can find is in the New Liszt Edition, as a footnote to the Sieben Walzer - simply noting that this waltz (no. 4 in the collection) was also composed by Liszt. The second of the two originated as a piano piece composed in 1823 or earlier (handout). We can assume this date because the inscription “von F. List, aus dem Ballet: Die Amazonen” is written in front of the violin part of the second Liszt waltz (no. 5) in the Sieben Walzer collection. According to the New Liszt Edition, this refers to Austria (Viennese) composer Count Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg’s (1783-1839) ballet Die Amazonen, which premiered in 1823 in Vienna (if it still exists, it is probably in the Austrian National Library, most of his ballets are there).
  • The waltzes were published in three settings - one for piano, one for violin and piano, and one for violin and guitar. The Artaria first edition was used as a supplementary source for the New Liszt Edition, but it is not included in the New Liszt Edition that we have here in our library. The piano version of this second waltz was also published in London by Nicholas Mori (also a violinist) and W. Ball (possible relation to James Ball, also a London publisher?) in a collection called Musical Gems for 1832. This edition is in The British Library in London. No complete copy of all three settings is known (meaning no copy containing the version for piano, for violin and piano, and for guitar and violin could be found), according to the New Liszt Edition.
  • The single recording we have in the library uses the Artaria edition of the Zwei Walzer, and states that it is out-of-print (as of 2000). According to Ben Arnold, the two waltzes were almost unknown until appearing in an article in the Liszt Society Newsletter in 1999 (“Liszt’s Violin Music: The Liszt Society’s Information Sheet no. 1” and given the number S 208a). In 2010, volume 12 of the Liszt Society Publications, The Complete Music for Violin and Pianoforte was published by Hardie Press. It can be found in two places: Harrassowitz, Germany, and at the University of Wisconsin - Madison General Library. There is a typo in both the print and the online Grove works list, because it states that the Zwei Walzer should appear in volume 11 (which actually is The Complete Music for Pianoforte, Violin, and Violoncello).

Arnold, Ben. The Liszt Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Liszt, Franz, et al. Works for violin and piano complete. [Hungary]: Hungaroton, 2000.

Liszt, Franz. Liszt Society Publications. Ed. Leslie Howard. Edinburgh: The Hardie Press, 1996.

Neue Ausgabe Sämtlicher Werke. Serie I: Werke für Klavier zu Zwei Händen, Bd. 13. Ed. Imre Sulyok and Imre Mezo. Hungary: Editio Musica Budapest, 1985.