The date of composition listed in the headnote can be somewhat misleading here. There are three versions of the Transcendental Etudes. The first, titled Études en douze exercizes, came in 1826; the second in 1838; and the final one in 1851. Rarely encountered on disc or on the recital stage, the earlier versions are inferior. The Appassionata etude here is one of the more exciting, more passionate outpourings in the final version. The work opens in a manner consistent with its Allegro agitato molto marking as notes rapidly cascade down and lead to music that bursts forth with nervous energy and a sense of urgency. The main theme desperately yearns, but clings to its songful manner despite rhythmic disruptions from quivering chords and ominous hammering from the bass. A constant sense of agitation prevails until the theme seizes control in the middle section for a brief respite. Still, it cannot hold back the rising currents of its own dark thematic underpinnings and thus finally yields to the fomenting anxiety. The ending is fraught with intensity and virtuosic hurdles, notes hurtling from up and down the keyboard, and a final dash that seems more an attempt at escape than a race to the finish line. The closing chords punctuate this five-minute masterwork with an ominous sense.

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As most Liszt mavens are aware, the Transcendental Etudes have origins dating back to two earlier versions, the first from 1826 that bears the title Étude en douze exercizes, and the second from 1838. The final version is without doubt the finest of the trio and Harmonies du soir (Evening harmonies) is one of its more compelling items. It is, to be sure, one of the less-driven, less-transcendental etudes, though it is still quite technically challenging in its stormy middle section. In the outer sections, the work is quiet and intimate, nocturne-like and nuanced with all shades of delicacy in dynamics. The piece opens with a brief introductory theme, after which follows the beautiful main theme, a creation whose contour is complex as it travels along a winding road, descending then rising, then blossoming into the sunlight upon its second appearance when the piano renders it with harp-like arpeggiations. A second theme appears in the middle section, at first subdued but later stormy when elements from the first melody reappear. The climax to this section is powerful and full of thunderous chords that seem to bring on some musical epiphany. The work closes with a quiet reprise of the main theme. This etude typically lasts nine or ten minutes.

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In 1826 the firms of Boisselot of Marseille and Dufont & Dubois in Paris simultaneously published a slender volume by the 15-year-old Liszt, Étude en 48 exercices, though it contained but 12 pieces—precursors of the Études d'exécution transcendante, which would assume their definitive form a quarter century later. Liszt is on record as having been but 13 when they were composed. Already, the style brillant of Steibelt, Herz, Pixis, and countless others who held Europe in thrall with their empty formulas and arid fripperies, has been suffused by a new and startling personality of genial winsomeness, though no one could have predicted the efflorescent ways in which it would be transformed into the radiantly whelming utterance of a titan. About this time, Alkan, two years Liszt's junior and already recognized as a phenomenal talent, encountered him in the salon of the Princesse de la Moscova. Young Liszt's keyboard manner proved a stunning revelation, occasioning Alkan a sleepless night, a decisive spur to striving, and a tacit lifelong rivalry. These early etudes afford a glimpse of what Alkan witnessed. The fifth study, in its 1851 recension titled Feux follets—legendary creatures of air owing their origin in folklore to the eerie flickering of swamp flares, and which Berlioz would immortalize in the eldritch Menuet of La Damnation de Faust (1846)—possesses a chiming, chirruping charm that would be expanded in ever more capricious fantastications. Following his "duel" with his closest rival, Sigismond Thalberg, March 31, 1837, Liszt was the undisputed monarch of the piano, provoking "Lisztomania" wherever he appeared, and the following year the publication of the first version of the Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini and the Grandes Études (12)—in which the exercices of 1826 have exfoliated into a superhuman dimension—demonstrated the technical fiat enabling his magic, though perhaps only Liszt (or Alkan) could have played them. Liszt felt them to be overloaded and pared away what he felt to be gratuitous difficulties in the definitive Études d'exécution transcendante of 1851. Curiously, Feux follets is one of the few that had not undergone major change between 1838 and 1851, its scintillant play of intervals—fifths, thirds, fourths, sixths—creating a shimmering texture against which darting figures suggest spritely volatility. Busoni noted, "In 'Feux Follets' ornament is united with colour. Their combination, which reaches its summit in Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este was not without influence in the origin of Wagner's Waldweben and Feuerzauber."

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The date of composition of this collection might arguably stretch back to 1826, when the 15-year-old Liszt fashioned a collection of piano pieces called Étude en douze exercices. He intended to expand the dozen to 48; however, he reworked them into the 1838 version of the Transcendental Etudes. During the period 1851-1852, Liszt revised the 12 pieces once more, now known as Études d'exécution transcendante. The 1838 and 1852 sets are quite similar, the former not necessarily appreciably more difficult than the latter.

The first etude, "Preludio," is brief, typically Lisztian and serves the purpose of a prelude or introduction in the sense that it is a sort of warming-up exercise for the performer. The second, in A minor, marked Molto vivace, carries no subtitle. It is a stormy and brilliant piece, anxious one moment, uplifting the next, but muscular in its fleetness.

"Paysage" (Landscape) is a serene, lovely piece, whose repetitive theme appears in a descending pattern. It builds up and reaches an ecstatic climax in the latter half. This is the least difficult of the 12 etudes. In contrast, the fourth, "Mazeppa," inspired by Victor Hugo's 1828 poem, Les Orientales, offers formidable challenges to the performer. After angering the husband of a Polish noblewoman, Mazeppa is tied to a wild horse and dragged all the way to Ukraine. He is released, eventually to lead a Cossack uprising. This etude is manic at the outset, featuring a colorful theme, part-march, part-gallop. Liszt subjects it to a brilliant series of variations.

The fifth etude, "Feux Follets" (Will-o'-the-wisps), is a delicate, fleet piece of playful, wayward character that tests the performer's technique not just in terms of speed, but in dynamics and nuances of coloration. The next entry, "Vision," is somber but ominous in its arpeggiations and tremolo effects. Is it the Dies Irae theme that Liszt alludes to throughout? Perhaps—Busoni claimed it depicted Napoleon's funeral. "Eroica" shares the same key as Beethoven's Eroica Symphony No. 3, but its theme is not so much heroic as it is dignified and noble.

"Wilde Jagd" (Wild Hunt) is aptly named, as the mood of this dramatic piece, marked presto furioso, lives up to its title by changing from savage to subtle, from furious to furtive, all to brilliantly portray a hunting scene, as typified in the music of German Romantics going back to Weber. "Ricordanza" (Remembrance) is a lovely piece whose focus is nostalgia. It features a beautiful Andantino theme, described by Busoni as evoking the image of a person perusing cherished old love letters.

The tenth etude, unnamed and marked Allegro agitato molto, begins with notes rapidly cascading downward, but it quickly begins a passionate, anxious theme. The music is mostly restless and becomes furious at the end. "Harmonies du soir" (Evening Harmonies) features a beautiful melody that evokes a blossoming of strong passions. The final entry, "Chasse-neige" (Snowstorm) depicts deepening snow. The music is, however, more tempestuous than a snowstorm would usually suggest.

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