Franz Liszt (1811–1886) was not only a brilliant and innovative composer and the greatest piano virtuoso of the 19th century; he was also a generous popularizer of other composers' music. One of his primary methods was through his superb piano transcriptions of great orchestral, operatic, and other pieces. These transcriptions — many of them masterpieces in their own right — made it possible for people living far from the concert hall to re-create and enjoy music to which they would otherwise have had no access.

Liszt's incomparable mastery of the art of transcription is reflected in this rich selection of favorites, including Rossini's "La Danza," Bach's "Organ Fantasy and Fugue in G minor," Beethoven's "Joyous gathering of the peasants" from the "Pastorale" Symphony, Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" and "Dance of the Elves" from A Midsummer Night's Dream, "The Trout" and "Erikönig" by Schubert, the "Polonaise" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene**Onegin, and many others.