Kreisler: Liebesleid - Easy Piano Arrangement

Fritz Kreisler: Liebesleid ("Love's Sorrow"), No. 2 from Old Vienneese Dances

PDF Sheet music, piano solo
Simple Solutions piano arrangement by Henrik Kilhamn

Approximate Grade: 5-
Scale 1 - 8: Beginner - Advanced

Key: A minor, same as original

As an instrumental love song the Liebesleid is a pillar of the violin repertoire, written by the legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler in a display of complete mastery of the Viennese tradition. Liebesleid actually means Love’s sorrow and not love song (which would be Liebes-lied) with the sorrow felt in the painful appoggiaturas of the A minor section. However, it switches between that and a section in A major which can then be understood as a kind of reconciliation in the heart after all. In the piano world, Rachmaninoff was inspired and wrote a concert piano adaptation with virtuosic textures and extra crunchy chromatics. This arrangement by contrast sticks close to the original violin tune, and some of the richer “comments” of the piano part have been dropped in favor of keeping the waltzing pattern present and comfortable at all times. Even so, this piece requires rather quick movements between positions to be played at concert tempo as part of its core expression. I have omitted pedalling marks completely because the music permits a big range of pedal treatment: you can either play it short and sharp with almost no pedal or add it over each harmony, depending on preference. Just be careful with harmony changes and staccato notes in the melody.

This arrangement is included in Simple Solutions Volume 5 - A Burning Desire (Intermediate ~ Grade 3-5)

ABOUT SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

The Simple Solutions series came from the idea that even not-professionally trained pianists should be able to enjoy the feeling of playing great music from the piano repertoire with their own hands. This is possible with some clever rearranging of the musical material: reducing the range of independent voices and jumps while preserving core ideas of melody and rhythm. In this easier setting, you will instead have enough time on your hands (literally!) to bring the music to life and care about those aspect that often otherwise come second: phrasing, articulation, dynamics, and balance. This will help you develop your over-all musicality, which will be of great value in all other pieces as well.

In the end, if you feel ready for a challenge and want to go forward with proper piano studies that requires years of practice – you can always move on to more advanced arrangements or original piano compositions. They will always be there. In the meantime, these arrangements will bring you close to the same enjoyment as the full versions, because all musical ideas are carefully conserved.

They are just a little bit easier.