Overview
Introduction
This is another piece by Liszt that falls loosely into the genre of transcription. It was based on the last movement of Paganini's Op. 7 Violin Concerto in B minor and became incorporated as the third piece into the 1838 set of six works entitled Etudes d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, S. 140. Liszt later reworked this set into the so-called Grandes etudes de Paganini in 1851. La campanella (the little bell), also appearing third in this latter set, has always been the most popular of the six items. All of the other five pieces were based on Paganini's 24 Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1.
In the 1831-32 Grand Fantasia version of La campanella it was written in A-flat minor, as it was when it became part of the 1838 collection. In the better known Grandes etudes de Paganini of 1851, Liszt re-wrote it in G-sharp minor, thus improving its readability. This enharmonic respelling was, of course, only a minor change from its original form. Both versions are the same length.
The Grand Fantasia is a brilliant showpiece that pays homage to the talents of Niccolò Paganini as composer, but more importantly as violin virtuoso. The playful, busy theme is colorful in its intricate and nearly continual filigree. Liszt capitalizes on the delicacies and difficulties of the source music by harnessing its virtuosity and brilliance for the keyboard, via deft writing that imparts new colors and dazzling acrobatics which might have drawn the attention of Paganini himself.
