Un Sospiro

"Un Sospiro" (Italian, "a sigh") is the third of Franz Liszt's Trois Études de Concert (Three Concert Etudes). It is also sometimes referred to as Etude No. 39, and is a piano solo in D-flat major. This etude is in common time (4/4), but it is extremely hard to count out the four beats to the measure due to the fact that the background has a varying amount of notes per bar. Usually it is around 28, but sometimes it rises to 32 or more.

Related Topics:
Franz Liszt - Trois Études de Concert - Etude - Piano

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Un Sospiro consists of a flowing background superimposed by a simple melody written in the third stave. The background alternates between the left and right hands in such a way that there is always a spare hand to play the melody high up. Even though the melody's notes are close together, it is "stitched" up and played with alternating hands. As a result, the left hand crosses the right numerous times.

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Towards the end, at the climax of the piece, both hands start crossing in an even more complex pattern. Since there are so many notes to be played rapidly and there aren't enough fingers, the hands must cross to get the last notes.

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