Franz Liszt was a romantic’s romantic. He was raised in Hungary, which was considered exotic in Western Europe during his lifetime. He was the first musical superstar – a virtuoso pianist, prolific composer, playboy and priest (though not at the same time.)

The Hungarian Rhapsody #2 in C# gets a lot of used, recently in a popular video game. I just love this piece: its ridiculously over-dramatic Romani beginning; the little slow dance which is both fiery and sensual at the same time; the wild jumping at the end. It’s 19th-century heavy metal.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” (famous quote attributed to Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, Machiavelli, Socrates, and Nicolas Cage.)

French composer Maurice Ravel‘s (1875-1937) most famous piece is probably Boléro. The piece is basically a one-minute melody, repeated 17 times. The tempo (speed), rhythm, notes of the melody and the harmony remain virtually unchanged from the beginning to the end. Some might call this insanity (the snare-drum players definitely call this insanity, because they play the same two-measure idea over 150 times, unchanged, until the very end of the piece. If you don’t believe me, take a look!)

Oddly enough, people seem to enjoy this insanity. So what makes it exciting? First: each time the melody is repeated, Ravel changes what instruments are playing, exploring a wide palette of orchestral color. Second, the whole piece is one gigantic crescendo – it starts soft, and grows to a full blow-your-ears-off loud. Turn your speakers up and make sure your boss isn’t around.

More than one person (two, to be exact) have told me that they love to start this piece with the volume turned all the way up – and they see how long they can last until they HAVE to turn it down.

Thanks to Larry, who gave the little push I needed to start this blog!