大象传媒

Donald Macleod untangles the enigma of Beethoven鈥檚 most famous piano bagatelle, and tells how the composer once nearly attacked his most important patron with a chair!

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.

By 1806, Beethoven was slowly coming to terms with his deafness - and beginning to be sociable again amongst friends and admirers. Yet this was a mixed blessing鈥� Donald Macleod explores two stories in which the famously temperamental composer very nearly got himself into a sticky situation - involving an irate Prince and an irate husband respectively. He also explores two further sets of piano variations - including Beethoven鈥檚 brilliant C Minor set, WoO 80 - and unravels the fleeting yet profound pictures painted in the composer鈥檚 late set of Eleven Bagatelles, Op 119.

Tarnopolsky: Echoes Of The Passing Day
Moscow Ensemble of Soloists

Bagatelle in A Minor (鈥淔眉r Elise鈥�), WoO 59
Paul Lewis, piano

Variations in C Minor, WoO 80
Simon Trp膷eski, piano

Mass in C Major: Credo
Genia K眉hmeier, soprano
Gerhild Romberger, alto
Maximilian Schmitt, tenor
Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Mariss Jansons, conductor

Variations on an original theme (March from the 鈥淩uins of Athens鈥�), Op 76
Ronald Brautigam, piano

Eleven Bagatelles, Op 119
Paul Lewis, piano

Producer: Steven Rajam