Transcendental Étude No. 2 in A minor
About this arrangement
Liszt reworked it from his 1826 Étude en douze exercices and published the final version in 1852 as part of the Transcendental Études, dedicated to his teacher Carl Czerny. The title 'Fusées' (rockets) was added later by Ferruccio Busoni in his edition, not by Liszt.
Learn it hands separately at 50% in short loops, and fix a fingering for each figure before you speed up. Go up to 75% only when a passage is clean.
Start with short loops.
Use the section list as a practice map. Start at 50% tempo, loop one section, then return to the full piece once the hand shape feels stable.
Choose Right or Left to focus on one hand. Wait for note checks the highlighted notes as you play them on the screen or a connected MIDI keyboard.
Before you practice.
01 How hard is Liszt's Transcendental Étude No. 2?
It's advanced, like the whole set. It's shorter than most of the Transcendental Études but very fast and physically demanding.
02 How long is the étude?
Our edition has 103 bars in 3/4.
03 What should I practise first?
The opening bars, each hand alone. Once they're even at 75%, join the hands and work through the piece in short sections.
04 Is it called 'Fusées'?
Sometimes. Busoni gave it that title in his edition, but Liszt left the étude untitled and only marked it Molto vivace.