Ferenc LisztJózsef Gregor Általános Iskola

A Quest for Heroes2013 - 15

Ferenc LisztA Hero, who didn’t speak Hungarian,

but was proud to be Hungarian.

He was born on October 22, 1811 in a small village called Doborján – today it belongs to Austria and is called Raiding.

• Liszt's father played the piano, violin, cello and guitar.

• He began teaching Ferenc the piano at age seven.

• Ferenc began composing in an elementary manner when he was eight.

• He also appeared in concerts.• His public debut in Vienna on December 1,

1822 was a great success. He was greeted in Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic circles and also met Beethoven and Schubert.

• While he was in Italy in 1838, he heard about the Great Flood in Pest.

• He immediately travelled to Vienna and gave 8 concerts to collect money for the victims.

• It was then when he ralized he was Hungarian.

• He used 75% of his concert income for charity.• He financed the foundation and building of

the Academy of Music in Budapest where he taught piano for free.

• He is a European hero, because his life and music symbolizes general human values and unity.

• He is a Hungarian hero, because, he did not hesitate to spend time and money to help the people and the country.

• The Australian Leslie Howard recorded all Liszt’s piano concerts. It took 15 years and the 94-piece-CD collection earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records.