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Differences Between "Lisztian" and "Chopinian" pianism?
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Liszt was inspired by Paganini. He wanted to capture the same kind of fire on the piano. Paganini of course was the "shredder" of his day.
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So was Schumann, and probably Chopin as well, maybe in a more subtle way. Almost everyone was stunned by Paganini at the time and the way he put violin virtuosity on a different level was apparently a big inspiration for that generation of piano players and composers.
Generally, I think Chopin was a parlour pianist whereas Liszt was a concert hall pianist. I think their stylistic differences mostly relate to their different artistic habitats. Otherwise I`m pretty sure both of them were in it for the gasps of the women. 
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That was pretty much what I was thinking. Chopin was primarily a miniaturist whose compositions were more suited to intimate Schubertiad-like gatherings of admirers. Liszt could write miniatures too of course but his lengthier diz-busters were more conducive to a formal concert environment.
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That was pretty much what I was thinking. Chopin was primarily a miniaturist whose compositions were more suited to intimate Schubertiad-like gatherings of admirers. Liszt could write miniatures too of course but his lengthier diz-busters were more conducive to a formal concert environment.
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It was probably true that Chopin was more reclusive whereas Liszt was a star who at least for some time thrived on the public stages.
But this is not so clearly mirrored in their works, I think; Liszt didn't overall compose more large scale piano works than Chopin, at least not more that remained in the repertoire.
- Chopin has two piano sonatas (the first early one is hardly ever played), Liszt has the b minor + the Dante sonata
- Both have two piano concertos (Chopin's are longer) and a few smaller works for piano and orchestra
- Both have two handfuls or so of "middle sized" ca. 8-12 minutes pieces (such as Funerailles, Mephisto waltz, the longer of the hungarian rhapsodies etc. for Liszt, the Ballades, Scherzi, Fantaise, Polonaise-fantaisie for Chopin
- both have many dozens of "short", typically 1-5 min pieces, often in collections or cycles: waltzes, etudes, nocturnes etc.
Liszt has of course far more pieces overall and some are "long" but hardly seriously large scale, like opera fantasies and paraphrases.
But this is not so clearly mirrored in their works, I think; Liszt didn't overall compose more large scale piano works than Chopin, at least not more that remained in the repertoire.
- Chopin has two piano sonatas (the first early one is hardly ever played), Liszt has the b minor + the Dante sonata
- Both have two piano concertos (Chopin's are longer) and a few smaller works for piano and orchestra
- Both have two handfuls or so of "middle sized" ca. 8-12 minutes pieces (such as Funerailles, Mephisto waltz, the longer of the hungarian rhapsodies etc. for Liszt, the Ballades, Scherzi, Fantaise, Polonaise-fantaisie for Chopin
- both have many dozens of "short", typically 1-5 min pieces, often in collections or cycles: waltzes, etudes, nocturnes etc.
Liszt has of course far more pieces overall and some are "long" but hardly seriously large scale, like opera fantasies and paraphrases.
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