Music came naturally to Liszt. He began to play the piano when he was only 5, and gave his first public concert when he was 9. A group of Hungarian noblemen was so impressed that they gave money for him to study in Vienna and Paris. By the time he was 12 he was being compared with the greatest adult pianist of the day. Soon he had conquered Europe. He was a star. Besides being a great performer, Liszt was a fine composer. His music was not only technically brilliant, it was also very adventurous and pointed the way to new musical developments. One of his inventions was the symphonic poem, an orchestral work that told a story in terms of music. Les Prludes, Mazeppa, and Hamlet are examples, but he also wrote vast quantities of music of all kinds.

Franz Liszt received piano lessons from his father at an early age. Showing interest in church and folk music, Liszt began to compose at age eight, giving his first public concert at age nine. Impressed by his playing, Hungarian magnates funded his musical education in Vienna for the next six years. Having performed all over Europe, Franz Liszt decided to settle in Weimar, Germany, in 1848 and focus on composition, with encouragement from the princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein.