Geza Zichy 1849-1924

[giles.enders]

Count Geza Zichy  Born 23.7.1849 in Sztara, Hungary (now Slovakia)  Died 14.1.1924 Budapest, Hungary

Hungarian aristocrat. Lawyer by profession.  He lost his right arm in an accident at the age of 16.  His was the first piano concerto written for the left hand and most of his piano music was also for the left hand.  It is unlikely he would have composed piano music but for the fact he enjoyed playing the piano and needed compositions for himself to play.  He was more at home composing opera.  Paul Wittgenstein was critical of his compositions.  However the difference between the two men was that Zichy was most generous and helpful about the use of his compositions whereas, Wittgenstein was quite the reverse with the compositions he had commissioned and which were paid for with his inherited wealth.

Zichy studied piano with  Franz Lizst for six years from 1873 and for composition with Friedrich Volkmann

Orchestral

Piano Concerto in E flat for left hand
Piano Concerto No.2 - there are references to this though I can find no trace of its composition

Piano

Six studies for piano - left hand  1878
Allegretto Gracioso - left hand
Divertimento in D major - left hand   pub. by Durand & Schanewerke
Sonata for the left hand
Four Etudes de Concert - left hand  pub. by Gutmann, Vienna  1882
Deau Morceau - left hand
Idylle, Rosnyai Karoly in D flat major
Liebstraum   pub. by Zimmermann
Sonata for left hand   pub. by D Rahter
Viennese Pranks
Six Etudes for left hand - No.2 Allegro Vivace, No.3 Valse d'Adele, No.5 Rhapsodie Hongoraise, No.6 Erlkonig   pub. by Heugel

Chamber

Hungarian Fantasy for piano left hand and violin in A flat major  pub. by Bote & Bock  1884

Opera

A var torteneck  1888
Alar  1896
Roland Mestar  1899
Nemo  1905
Rakoczi Ferenz  1909
Radosto  1912

Ballet

Gemma

Vocal

Dolores - Cantata  1889

[eschiss1]

(Never mind, that 1898 date I was correcting with seems to be wrong so removing it. LoC should fix that too.)  Inserting something else then The piano works include something else also, a "Sonate (G) f. Pfte f. die linke Hand allein." published by Rahter in 1887 (acc. HMB) and still in some libraries. Also a serenade for the left hand (pub.1890).

[thalbergmad]

There are a batch of transcriptions as well for piano left hand.

Wagner's Tannhauser, Chopin's "Military" Polonaise, Liszt's Rakoczy March, Bach's Chaconne & Schubert's Erlkonig. All are difficult, some look impossible and it would probably take someone like Katsaris to do them justice.

I reckon I could just about play the piano concerto with 2 hands, but I guess that would be missing the point.

Thal

[Gareth Vaughan]

Does anyone know if the full score of the Piano Concerto has survived?

[eschiss1]

A search in the catalog of Debrecen University isn't showing anything, but that's just one place.
It does mention a work called "A szerelem harcza" (for the love of harcza? combat of love), a drama in 5 acts, probably a substantial enough work (at least structurally perhaps, even if it turns out to be the size of a Milhaud mini-opera- I don't know) for inclusion above (49 page- vocal score?, ca.1876).

[giles.enders]

I wonder if his descendants have any of his scores. As a landed family they might have. 

[thalbergmad]

I know not if the full score of the PC exists, but I maintain it is bordering on the impossible so I could not imagine a recording anyhow.

Thal