Just like the third, the Fourth Hungarian Rhapsody, also issued in 1853, is based on a piano piece previously published as a Hungarian National Melody. In the course of his editing, Liszt intensified in most of the series the typical contrast between the slow first section and the fast second part: here a majestic courtship dance with chromatic ornamentation, there a climactic passage in staccato octaves that is reminiscent of Liszt’s enormously demanding etudes and that brings this composition to a brilliant conclusion.
In addition to the printed sources, the autograph was taken into account for the first time for an Urtext edition. Once again, Mária Eckhardt contributed the preface, and Vincenzo Maltempo, one of the leading experts on Liszt’s rhapsodies, provided the fingerings.