of the scale of musical forms with which the Romantic composers experimented suited the expanded artistic goals of the Romantic Movement.
The piano was the favorite instrument of the Romantic musicians, and Franz Liszt, considered one of the greatest pianists of all times, was the epitome of the Romantic virtuoso. He may have been the first musical performer to project a ôRomanticö personality in his performances, a concept that has persisted to the present, not only in the field of classical music, but popular music as well.
During his virtuoso period, Liszt became interested in Hungarian popular music. He chose the material of Hungarian folk music for several of his compositions because ôhe admired the romantic elements in the gypsiesÆ style and their improvisatory effectsö (Searle 44). His use of his native Hungarian melodies is also an indication of the National conscious, or spirit of Nationalism that flourished during the Romantic period.
In 1849, at the height of his popularity as a successful virtuoso concert pianist, Liszt accepted a position in Weimer to direct the opera and concerts. He produced musical works that were not accepted in other venues such as WagnerÆs ôLohengrinö and BerliozÆs ôBenevenuto Cellini.ö His life-long friendship with Wagner began at this time.
After his move to Weimar, Liszt developed a deep interest in the expressive qualities of the piano, as compared to just flashy virtuoso technique, and he rejected the concept of music for its own sake. The orderly style of the classicists no longer served his aesthetic concepts that were now centered in the free form musical structure representative of the Romantic Movement. He also began to explore chromaticism and unusual melodic lines. It was during this period that Liszt invented the idea of a different form of music, music in which the expression of certain moods was based on a particular literary theme. The culmination of LisztÆs n...