Abstract

The social, economic and cultural developments in the nineteenth century changed the musical traditions and contributed to the new ones. The increase in the number of conservatories, stages, concerts and publishing houses triggered each one’s development and paved the way for brilliant virtuosos. Paris, one of the centers of art, was home to many composer-performers. Among these musicians are Franz Liszt and Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin. Chopin, whose compositions are mostly for the piano, wrote nineteen songs with no intention of publishing. In the nineteenth century, when transcriptions for the purpose of promoting, disseminating, performing and learning compositions were popular, Liszt chose six of Chopin's songs and adapted them for solo piano. In this study, Chopin's original version of the song Życzenie and its transcription Mädchens Wunsch made by Liszt are comparatively analyzed in terms of melodies.