Introduction

             “Why do I play Classical music?” and “How do I play Classical music?” are always the biggest questions and always present in my minds. As I can imagine for many other musicians, I often find myself lost in the sea of possible interpretations and endless recordings and materials from generations of masters. I did receive a breath of fresh air with the introduction of Historically informed performance practices, but it also accentuated these questions even further. There are certainly a lot of sensitive elements in recreating music from hundreds of years ago, to both feel sincere in personal expressions and musical and historical contexts, and to deliver the expressions from the past to today’s context. Musicians in the past were well aware of this challenge and there are numerous documents emphasizing on the importance of the Geist, the spirit of music as well as other terminologies that dealt with the same matters: the key elements of a piece of music, the essential characteristics that cannot be disregarded, to keep the music alive. As well as warnings for the opposite: to passively make music like following instructions from the music scores.

             This research originated from my struggle in finding my way of music making, with the past years studying both modern and historical keyboards. I sometimes find myself in a pickle of ‘doing things correctly’, whether that be according to the historical sources, finding the right techniques for each pianos, and especially translating all these ideas into practice on a modern piano. 

             I would like to examine the balance between tradition and innovation through the lens of Franz Liszt’s interpretation of Beethoven’s music from his days studying with Carl Czerny, one of the most important pupils of Beethoven, to his performing and teaching career. I hope to gain a better understanding of the spirit of making classical music with the conviction of the living tradition and the evolving musical languages and the surrounding contexts with the question: How did Liszt interpret the music of Beethoven throughout his life from his days as a student of Czerny to his teachings to Bülow, and how can I implement this information into my classical music making in today's context?