Composed in 1881, Franz Liszt's Ungarns Gott was originally written for baritone solos with male choir and piano. Shortly after its initial conception, Liszt transcribed two versions of this work for piano: one for two hands and one for left hand only. A year later, Liszt also published a version for organ. In the manuscript, Liszt quoted the first six lines of Sandor Petöfi's poem, A magyarok istene. The inspiration for this work was the heroic death of Petöfi in the battle of Segesvar in Transylvania in 1849.

This brief composition is a broodingly chordal work with a decidedly Hungarian flavor. The middle section of this piece is caressed by rippling arpeggios which create a momentary feeling of tranquillity in this otherwise forceful composition. The two piano versions are remarkably similar with the left-hand transcription lacking only some of the upper chord extensions of the two-hand version.

Although less than three minutes in duration, Ungarns Gott is a powerfully written piece which expresses the anger Liszt felt at the prospect of an heroic life cut short and should be part of any study of Liszt's piano works.

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