Liszt's Introduction et variations sur une marche du Siège de Corinthe (1830) raises many questions, because only the Introduction of the piece has been found. During his sojourn in Paris, Liszt would have certainly known Rossini?s opera Le Siège de Corinthe, which was premiered there in 1826 and was published in 1827. Liszt takes his theme in his Introduction from the March in the third act of the opera. The Introduction concludes on a dominant seventh chord, suggesting that Liszt planned to write the following variations while calling into question whether he did ever complete them. Liszt's inscription that mentions "Fuchs," probably Alois Fuchs, the Viennese autograph collector, raises several questions, including when and how Fuchs obtained the manuscript and whether Liszt wrote the title and inscribed it to Fuchs while he was writing the music on the first staff. The Fuchs entry in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek Catalogue 317 leads to speculation that Liszt wrote the Introduction and probably variations in 1830 but kept the piece untitled until he sent it to Fuchs in 1851 with a title and inscription.

Works: Liszt: Introduction et variations sur une marche du Siège de Corinthe (103).

Sources: Rossini: Le Siège de Corinthe (103).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Hyun Joo Kim