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 compositi...