In the second half of the 19th century, the history of European music is characterized by a general tendency to symmetry. In order to realize symmetric structure, the composers experimented with different harmonic solutions. In particular, the choice by the German school (Wagner, Mahler and Bruckner) of hypertrophy of the function of the dominant contrasted with the Lisztian “dominant avoidance”, based on relations of thirds. By means of dominant avoidance, linked to Eastern musical culture, and by exploitation of the timbre, Liszt created octatonic relations in his works. Analytical treatises have often ignored the octatonic sequences in Lisztian compositions because the octatonic scales hide their elements in traditional triadic sequences. The present essay reveals the employment of the octatonism already in some of Liszt’s works composed before the Weimar period, thus establishing an element of continuity in his compositional processes.