Variations on a Lifelong Theme
Donald Macleod explores Beethoven鈥檚 life as a set of themes and variations, beginning with his very first musical excursions in the form in the early 1790s.
Donald Macleod explores Beethoven鈥檚 life as a set of themes and variations, beginning with his very first musical excursions in the form in the early 1790s.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed piano music in the form of themes and variations across his entire career - from his earliest published work to his late, titanic 鈥淒iabelli Variations鈥�, lasting nearly an hour. And Beethoven鈥檚 life can itself be seen as a set of variations on a theme: recurring episodes of unrequited love, artistic anguish, angry fallings-out and constant striving for the highest pinnacle of musical achievement. Yet Beethoven鈥檚 piano variations often lie in the shadow of his 32 great sonatas for the instrument. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right - shining a light on this remarkable corpus of work, as well another often-overlooked genre: his piano bagatelles.
He begins with Beethoven鈥檚 very first published work - a boyhood set of variations for piano on a theme by one Ernst Christoph Dressler - before taking us on a journey through mid-1790s Vienna, as an impatient and ambitious young Beethoven meets a man who would become one of the most important patrons of his life: Prince Karl Lichnowsky. Music includes Beethoven鈥檚 earliest-composed piano concerto - confusingly numbered his second - as well as an exploration of one of his last utterances for piano: his Six Bagatelles, Op 126.
Diabelli Variations (Theme and 1st variation)
Mitsuko Uchida, piano
Variations in C Minor on a theme of Ernst Christoph Dressler, WoO 63
See Siang Wong, piano
Variations in G on 鈥淨uant鈥檈 piu bello鈥�, WoO 69
Ronald Brautigam, piano
Piano Trio no 2 in G, Opus 1 No 2 (2nd mvt)
Trio Sora
Piano Concerto no 2 in B Flat, Op 19 (3rd mvt)
Kristian Bezuidenhout, piano
Freiburger Barockorchester
Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor
Six Bagatelles, Op 126
Yevgeny Sudbin, piano
Producer: Steven Rajam
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Nine Variations on a March by Dressler, WoO 63
Performer: See Siang Wong.- RCA : 19439-883152.
- RCA.
- 12.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Nine Variations on 'Quant'猫 pi霉 bello', WoO 69
Performer: Ronald Brautigam.- BIS : BIS2403.
- BIS.
- 7.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Trio in G major, Op 1 No 2 (2nd mvt)
Ensemble: Trio S艒ra.- NAIVE : V7085.
- NAIVE.
- 6.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op 19 (3rd mvt)
Performer: Kristian Bezuidenhout. Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Pablo Heras鈥怌asado.- HARMONIA MUNDI : HMM902411.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
- 6.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Six Bagatelles, Op 126
Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin.- BIS : BIS2208.
- BIS.
- 6.
Broadcast
- Mon 25 Jul 2022 12:00大象传媒 Radio 3
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