The melody was everywhere in the 1820s, but now it has a completely different reputation.
Liszt's famous piano etude on 'La campanella' has a deeper origin story than you might think. Over two decades and at least fifteen different arrangements of 'La campanella' separated Paganini's original 1826 hit and Liszt's now-iconic 1851 piano etude.
But nobody talks about the versions that appeared in between and how they differed from Liszt's approach. How did Paganini's melody become so popular, and why have most of its arrangements disappeared except for Liszt's final attempt in 1851? This is that story.
