Count Geza Zichy Born 23.7.1849 in Sztara, Hungary (now Slovakia) Died 14.1.1924 Budapest, Hungary
Hungarian aristocrat. Lawyer by profession. He lost his right arm in an accident at the age of 16. His was the first piano concerto written for the left hand and most of his piano music was also for the left hand. It is unlikely he would have composed piano music but for the fact he enjoyed playing the piano and needed compositions for himself to play. He was more at home composing opera. Paul Wittgenstein was critical of his compositions. However the difference between the two men was that Zichy was most generous and helpful about the use of his compositions whereas, Wittgenstein was quite the reverse with the compositions he had commissioned and which were paid for with his inherited wealth.
Zichy studied piano with Franz Lizst for six years from 1873 and for composition with Friedrich Volkmann
Orchestral
Piano Concerto in E flat for left hand
Piano Concerto No.2 - there are references to this though I can find no trace of its composition
Piano
Six studies for piano - left hand 1878
Allegretto Gracioso - left hand
Divertimento in D major - left hand pub. by Durand & Schanewerke
Sonata for the left hand
Four Etudes de Concert - left hand pub. by Gutmann, Vienna 1882
Deau Morceau - left hand
Idylle, Rosnyai Karoly in D flat major
Liebstraum pub. by Zimmermann
Sonata for left hand pub. by D Rahter
Viennese Pranks
Six Etudes for left hand - No.2 Allegro Vivace, No.3 Valse d'Adele, No.5 Rhapsodie Hongoraise, No.6 Erlkonig pub. by Heugel
Chamber
Hungarian Fantasy for piano left hand and violin in A flat major pub. by Bote & Bock 1884
Opera
A var torteneck 1888
Alar 1896
Roland Mestar 1899
Nemo 1905
Rakoczi Ferenz 1909
Radosto 1912
Ballet
Gemma
Vocal
Dolores - Cantata 1889
(Never mind, that 1898 date I was correcting with seems to be wrong so removing it. LoC should fix that too.) Inserting something else then :) The piano works include something else also, a "Sonate (G) f. Pfte f. die linke Hand allein." published by Rahter in 1887 (acc. HMB) and still in some libraries. Also a serenade for the left hand (pub.1890).
There are a batch of transcriptions as well for piano left hand.
Wagner's Tannhauser, Chopin's "Military" Polonaise, Liszt's Rakoczy March, Bach's Chaconne & Schubert's Erlkonig. All are difficult, some look impossible and it would probably take someone like Katsaris to do them justice.
I reckon I could just about play the piano concerto with 2 hands, but I guess that would be missing the point.
Thal
Does anyone know if the full score of the Piano Concerto has survived?
A search in the catalog of Debrecen University isn't showing anything, but that's just one place.
It does mention a work called "A szerelem harcza" (for the love of harcza? combat of love), a drama in 5 acts, probably a substantial enough work (at least structurally perhaps, even if it turns out to be the size of a Milhaud mini-opera- I don't know) for inclusion above :) (49 page- vocal score?, ca.1876).
I wonder if his descendants have any of his scores. As a landed family they might have.
I know not if the full score of the PC exists, but I maintain it is bordering on the impossible so I could not imagine a recording anyhow.
Thal