Schubert Piano Sonata No 21 D 960 B flat major Alfred Brendel

Felices Cantus

Published on Mar 23, 2014

Franz Schubert Piano Sonata No 21 D 960 B flat major
Alfred Brendel, piano
1.Molto Moderato 0:00
2.Andante Sostenuto 15:30
3.Scherzo. Allegro vivace con delicatezza 25:03
4.Allegro non troppo 28:54

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & London Symphony Orchestra: great compositions/performances

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & LSO

  Czarmuzyki Ewa Chamiec

Carl Maria von Weber Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op. 79 – Alfred Brendel, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

Sviatoslav Richter plays Rachmaninoff Concerto No.1, Op. 1: great compositions/performances

Sviatoslav Richter plays Rachmaninov Concerto No.1, Op.1

FirstPublicChannel

Piano Concerto No.1 in F sharp minor, Op.1

00:00 – Vivace
12:30 – Andante
18:52 – Allegro vivace

USSR RTV Large Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Sanderling
recording:
*1962 (date written on the cd);
**Feb 18, 1955 (according to New4785689)
http://www.youtube.com/user/New4785689
*************************************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sergei Rachmaninov composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1, in 1891, at age 18. He dedicated the work to Alexander Siloti. He revised the work thoroughly in 1917.

First version

Rachmaninoff (right) with Alexander Siloti.

This was actually Rachmaninov’s second attempt at a piano concerto. In 1889 he had begun but abandoned a concerto in C minor (the same key, incidentally, in which he would later write his Second Piano Concerto). He wrote Natalya Skalon on 26 March 1891, “I am now composing a piano concerto. Two movements are already written; the last movement is not written, but is composed; I shall probably finish the whole concerto by the summer, and then in the summer orchestrate it”^[1] He finished composing and scoring the piece on July 6 and was satisfied with what he had written.^[2] The first movement was premiered on 17 March 1892 at the Moscow Conservatoire, with the composer as soloist and Vasily Safonov conducting. This may have been the only time the composer played the concerto in its original form, although Siloti, to whom it is dedicated, programmed it to play himself on several occasions.^[3]

Composition students were usually advised to base their efforts on a specific model for their first exercises in new forms. In Rachmaninoff’s case this was the Grieg Piano Concerto,^[4] which was a favorite work of his and one which he had been familiar from Siloti practicing it at the Rachmaninoff household during the spring and summer of 1890 for future concerts.^[5] Rachmaninoff adapted the entire musical structure of the outer movements to the Grieg concerto, literally building his music into it. With all his other concertos, Rachmaninoff would prove more enterprising.^[6]

Selected recordings

Manuscript version

• Alexandre Ghindin, pianist, with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded in 2001 (first recording)

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Mozart: Piano concerto n. No. 21 in C major, K.467 Pollini-Muti: great compositions/performances

Mozart: Piano concerto n. No. 21 in C major, K.467 Pollini-Muti

Alessandro152

Mozart:Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467

***Orchestra filarmonica della Scala
***Maurizio Pollini
***Riccardo Muti
(2004)
****************************************************************

Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed on March 9, 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, four weeks after the completion of the previous D minor concerto, K. 466.^[1][2]

Structure

The concerto has three movements:

1. Allegro maestoso; in common time. The tempo marking is in Mozart’s catalog of his own works, but not in the autograph manuscript.^[3]
2. Andante in F major. In both the autograph score and in his personal catalog, Mozart notated the meter as Alla breve. ^[4]
3. Allegro vivace assai

The opening movement begins quietly with a march figure, but quickly moves to a more lyrical melody interspersed with a fanfare in the winds. The music grows abruptly in volume, with the violins taking up the principal melody over the march theme, which is now played by the brass. This uplifting theme transitions to a brief, quieter interlude distinguished by a sighing motif in the brass. The march returns, eventually transitioning to the entrance of the soloist. The soloist plays a brief Eingang (a type of abbreviated Cadenza) before resolving to a trill on the dominant G while the strings play the march in C major. The piano then introduces new material in C major and begins transitioning to the dominant key of G major. Immediately after an orchestral cadence finally announces the arrival of the dominant, the music abruptly shifts to G minor in a passage that is reminiscent of the main theme of the Symphony No. 40 in that key.^[5] A series of rising and falling chromatic scales then transition the music to the true second theme of the piece, an ebullient G major theme which Mozart had previously used in his Third Horn Concerto. The usual development and recapitulation follow. There is a cadenza at the end of the movement, although Mozart’s original has been lost.

The famous Andante is in three parts. The opening section is for orchestra only and features muted strings. The first violins play with a dreamlike melody over an accompaniment consisting of second violins and violas playing repeated-note triplets and the cellos and bass playing pizzicato arpeggios. All of the major melodic material of the movement is contained in this orchestral introduction, in either F major or F minor. The second section introduces the solo piano and starts off in F major. It is not a literal repeat, though, as after the first few phrases, new material is interjected which ventures off into different keys. When familiar material returns, the music is now in the dominant keys of C minor and C major. More new material in distant keys is added, which transitions to the third section of the movement. The third section begins with the dreamlike melody again, but this time in A-flat major. Over the course of this final section, the music makes it way back to the tonic keys of F minor and then F major and a short coda concludes the movement.

The final rondo movement begins with the full orchestra espousing a joyous “jumping” theme. After a short cadenza, the piano joins in and further elaborates. A “call and response” style is apparent, with the piano and ensemble exchanging parts fluidly. The soloist gets scale and arpeggio figurations that enhance the themes, as well as a short cadenza that leads right back to the main theme. The main theme appears one final time, leading to an upward rush of scales that ends on a triumphant note.

Recordings

This work has been recorded numerous times by many famous pianists including Géza Anda, Piotr Anderszewski, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Malcolm Bilson, Alfred Brendel, Robert Casadesus, Ivan Drenikov, Annie Fischer, Walter Gieseking, Friedrich Gulda, Stephen Hough, Keith Jarrett, Wilhelm Kempff, Walter Klien, Alicia de Larrocha, Giorgi Latsabidze, Rosina Lhevinne, Dinu Lipatti, Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Maria João Pires, Maurizio Pollini, Arthur Rubinstein, Fazil Say, András Schiff, Artur Schnabel, Rudolf Serkin, Howard Shelley, Mitsuko Uchida, and Christian Zacharias.

Cultural references

The second movement was featured in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan.^[1][6] This has led to an anachronistic nickname of Elvira Madigan for the concerto.^[7][8][9]

Neil Diamond’s 1972 song “Song Sung Blue” was based on a theme from the andante movement of the concerto.^[10]

An electronic arrangement of the concerto’s first movement was used as the main theme of the TV series Whiz Kids.

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Arthur Rubinstein plays The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saëns: great compositions/performances

Saint Saens – Piano conc.No.2 – Arthur Rubinstein

  wittekjmusic

(Published on Mar 16, 2013 – 133,879 views)

Saint Saens: Piano Concerto No.2, Piano: Arthur Rubinstein – Conducted: Andre Previn London Symphony Orchestra 1975.

Piano Concerto No. 2 (Saint-Saëns)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

The first appearance of the first movement’s main theme, written in the piano part.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saëns, was composed in 1868 and is probably Saint-Saëns’ most popular piano concerto. It was dedicated to Madame A. de Villers née de Haber. At the première, the composer was the soloist and Anton Rubinstein conducted the orchestra. Saint-Saëns wrote the concerto in three weeks, and had very little time to prepare for the première; consequently, the piece was not initially successful. The capricious changes in style provoked Zygmunt Stojowski to quip that it “begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach.”^[1]

Overview

The piece follows the traditional form of three movements but allows for more freedom in tempo markings. Normally, the first movement is fast-paced, while the second is slower. However, the two are reversed in this piece. The concerto is scored for solo piano, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, crash cymbals and strings.

The movements in the concerto are:

1. Andante sostenuto

   The concerto begins with a piano solo playing a long improvisational introduction in the style of a Bach fantasia. After the orchestra enters, the restless and melancholy first theme is played, again by the piano solo. Saint-Saëns drew the theme from his student Gabriel Fauré‘s abandoned Tantum ergo motet. A brief second theme appears, followed by a middle section of increasing degrees of animato. The main theme is recapitulated fortissimo and the soloist is given a long ad libitum cadenza. The Bach-like opening motif returns in the coda.

2. Allegro scherzando

   The second movement is in E-flat major and, instead of being a typical adagio, resembles a scherzo. The mercurial piano part is marked leggieramente, and the two main themes are clever and light-hearted. The energetic, delicate personality of this particular movement is characteristic of Saint-Saëns’ musical wit, most famously observable in Le Carnaval des Animaux.

3. Presto

   The concerto concludes by returning to G minor. Like the preceding movement, it moves quickly; this time the form is an extremely fast, fiery tarantella in sonata form, featuring a strong triplet figure. At presto speed, the orchestra and soloist rush tumultuously along, gaining volume and momentum and finishing in a whirlwind of G minor arpeggios.
   

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Rubinstein grew up on Piotrkowska Street, Łódź, Poland

Arthur Rubinstein

was born in Łódź (January 28, 1887 — December 20, 1982), Congress Poland (part of the Russian Empire for the entire time Rubinstein resided there) on January 28, 1887, to a Jewish family. He was the youngest of seven children, and his father owned a small textile factory.

Arthur Rubinstein in 1971.

Arthur Rubinstein. However, his United States impresario Sol Hurok insisted he be billed as Artur, and records were released in the West under both versions of his name. At the age of two, Rubinstein demonstrated perfect pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sister’s piano lessons. By the age of four, he was recognised as a child prodigy. His father had a predilection for the violin and offered Rubinstein a violin; but Rubinstein rejected it because he thought his instinct was for harmony and

Rubinstein in 1906

polyphony. The Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, on hearing the four-year-old child play, was greatly impressed, told Arthur’s family, 1894, seven-year-old Arthur Rubinstein had his debut with pieces by Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. At the age of ten, Rubinstein moved to Berlin to continue his studies, and gave his first performance with the

A cast of the pianist’s hands, at the Łódź museum

Berlin Philharmonic in 1900, at the age of 13. Rubinstein made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. In 1912, he made his London debut, and found a home there in the Edith Grove, Chelsea, musical salon of Paul and Muriel Draper, in company with Kochanski, Igor Stravinsky,

Rubinstein in 1963

Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, Pierre Monteux and others. During World War I, Rubinstein stayed in London, giving recitals and accompanying the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. In 1916 and 1917, he made his first tours in Spain and South America where he was wildly acclaimed. It was during those tours that he developed a lifelong enthusiasm for the music of Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. He was the dedicatee of Villa-Lobos’s Rudepoêma and Stravinsky’s Trois mouvements de Petrouchka. Rubinstein was disgusted by Germany’s conduct during the war, and never played there again. His last performance in Germany was in 1914. In 1921 Rubinstein gave two American tours, travelling to New York with Karol Szymanowski and his close friend Paul Kochanski. In 1932, the pianist, who stated he neglected his technique in his early years, relying instead on natural talent, withdrew from concert life for several months of intensive study and practice. Rubinstein toured the United States again in 1937, his career becoming centered there during the World War II years when he lived in Brentwood, California. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1946. A cast of the pianist’s hands, at the Łódź museum During his time in California, Rubinstein provided the piano soundtrack for several films, including Song of Love with Katherine Hepburn. He appeared, as himself, in films Carnegie Hall and Of Men and Music. Although best known as a recitalist and concerto soloist, Rubinstein was also considered an outstanding chamber musician, partnering with such luminaries as Henryk Szeryng, Jascha Heifetz, Pablo Casals, Gregor Piatigorsky, and the Guarneri Quartet. Rubinstein recorded much of the core piano repertoire, particularly that of the Romantic composers. At the time of his death, the New York Times in describing him wrote, “Chopin was his specialty . . . it was [as] a Chopinist that he was considered by many without peer”. With the exception of the Études, he recorded most of the works of Chopin. He was one of the earliest champions of the Spanish and South American composers and of French composers who, in the early twentieth century, were still considered “modern” such as Debussy and Ravel. In addition, Rubinstein was the first champion of the music of his compatriot Karol Szymanowski. Rubinstein, in conversation with Alexander Scriabin, named Brahms as his favorite composer, a response that enraged Scriabin. In 1975, a documentary named Artur Rubinstein, Love of Life was on; a TV special named Rubinstein at 90 represented he had been playing for people for eight decades. By the mid-1970s, Rubinstein’s eyesight had begun to deteriorate. He retired from the stage at age eighty-nine in May 1976, giving his last concert at London’s Wigmore Hall, where he had first played nearly seventy years before. Rubinstein, who was fluent in eight languages, held much of the repertoire, not simply that of the piano, in his formidable memory.

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W. A. Mozart – KV 385 – 1782 Version – Symphony No. 35 in D major “Haffner”: make music part of your life series

W. A. Mozart – KV 385 – 1782 Version – Symphony No. 35 in D major “Haffner”

ComposersbyNumbers

Published on Aug 11, 2013

The symphony is set in 4 movements:
1. Allegro con spirito (0:00)
2. Andante (5:26)
3. Menuetto (14:00)
4. Presto (17:43)

Performers: The Academy of Ancient Music, conducted by Christopher Hogwood.

Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 and is also called the Haffner Symphony. It was commissioned by the Haffners, a prominent Salzburg family, for the occasion of Sigmund Haffner’s ennoblement. The Haffner Symphony should not be confused with the eight-movement Haffner Serenade, another piece Mozart wrote on commission from the same family in 1776. The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in D and G, 2 trumpets in D, timpani, and strings. Mozart’s choice of key for the Haffner Symphony is an aspect that catches one’s attention. According to Cuyler, “the key of D major, which was so felicitous for the winds, served Mozart more often than any other key, even C, for his symphonies,” including the Paris (No. 31) and Prague (No. 38) symphonies. The key is also indicative of the work’s serenade origins as all of Mozart’s orchestral serenades are scored in D major. Hence, it is not surprising that the Haffner Symphony was written in the key of D major.
The symphony is in four movements:
1. Allegro con spirito, 4/4
2. Andante, 2/4
3. Menuetto, 3/4
4. Presto, 2/2.
The Haffner Symphony usually runs somewhere around 20 minutes in length. A recording by George Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra (Sony SBK 46333) runs 19.11; one by Iona Brown with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Haenssler CD 94.003) is 21.09; and one by Sir Neville Marriner also with the same ensemble (Philips 420 486-2) runs 21.34.
—————————————-­————————————-
FREE .mp3 and .wav files of all Mozart’s music at: http://www.mozart-archiv.de/
FREE sheet music scores of any Mozart piece at: http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/start…
ALSO check out these cool sites: http://musopen.org/
and http://imslp.org/wiki/

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Mozart – Symphony No. 39 in E flat, K. 543: make music part of your life series

Mozart – Symphony No. 39 in E flat, K. 543

Am4d3usM0z4rt

Family portrait: Maria Anna (“Nannerl”) Mozart, her brother Wolfgang, their mother Anna Maria (medallion) and father, Leopold Mozart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 543, was completed on 26 June 1788. The 39th Symphony is the first of a set of three (his last symphonies) that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the summer of 1788. No. 40 was completed 25 July and No. 41 on 10 August. Around the same time, Mozart was writing his piano trios in E and C major, his sonate facile, and a violin sonatina. Mozart biographer Alfred Einstein has suggested that Mozart took Michael Haydn‘s Symphony No. 26, in the same key, as a model. It seems to be impossible to determine the date of the premiere of the 39th Symphony on the basis of currently available evidence; in fact, it cannot be established whether the symphony was ever performed in the composer’s lifetime. According to Deutsch (1965), around the time Mozart wrote the work, he was preparing to hold a series of “Concerts in the Casino”, in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this series to his friend Michael von Puchberg. But it seems impossible to determine whether the concert series was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest. In addition, in the period up to the end of his life, Mozart participated in various other concerts whose program included an unidentified symphony; these also could have been the occasion of the premiere of the 39th. In modern times, the work is part of the core symphonic repertoire and is frequently performed and recorded. The symphony is scored for flute, pairs of clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, timpani and strings. There are four movements:
1. Adagio, cut time — Allegro, 3/4
2. Andante con moto, 2/4
3. Menuetto: Trio, 3/4
4. Allegro, 2/4.
—————————————-­————————————-
FREE .mp3 and .wav files of all Mozart’s music at: http://www.mozart-archiv.de/
FREE sheet music scores of any Mozart piece at: http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/start…
ALSO check out these cool sites: http://musopen.org/
and http://imslp.org/wiki/

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Schubert Symphony No 2 B flat major, D 125 / Maazel Bavarian RSO: make music part of your life series

Schubert Symphony No. 2, D125 B flat major Maazel Bavarian RSO

La Casa di Davide

Published on Mar 24, 2014

Franz Schubert Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, D. 125:

I. Largo – Allegro vivace
II. Andante in E flat major 9:50
III. Menuetto: Allegro vivace in C minor – Trio in E flat major 17:40
IV. Presto 21:03

Lorin Maazel conducts Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
**********************************************************************
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, D. 125,^[1] is a symphony by Franz Schubert composed between 1814 and 1815.

There are four movements:

• I. Largo – Allegro vivace
• II. Andante in E flat major
• III. Menuetto: Allegro vivace in C minor – Trio in E flat major
• IV. Presto

In the opening movement, the initial theme of the Allegro vivace is based on the corresponding first theme of Ludwig van Beethoven‘s overture to The Creatures of Prometheus.^[2]

The second movement is a theme with five variations in E-flat major, Schubert’s only set of symphonic variations. Although there is some variation in the melody, the primary focus of the variations are on instrumentation and tone color. The first variation features violins and winds. The second variation passes the theme between the low strings and the woodwinds. The third variation is again violins and winds. The fourth variation is in C minor and features some acceleration with the use triplet-sixteenth notes. The fifth variation maintains the triplet-sixteenths, but they move into the background with the melody returning close to its original form as a kind of recapitulation. A coda concludes the movement.^[2]

The minuet is in C minor and mainly scored for the tutti and fortissimo. The contrasting Trio in E flat major is more thinly scored winds, violins and pizzicato bass. The melody of the trio is actually a variation of the theme used in the second movement forming a melodic and harmonic (E-flat/C minor) link is made between the inner two movements.^[2]

The finale is a galop^[2] in fast 2/4 time.

 

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & LSO (make music part of your life series)

Carl Maria von Weber Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op. 79 – Alfred Brendel, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

fabulous musical moments: Schubert / A. Brendel, 1961: Fantasy in C Major, D. 760 (Op. 15) – The Wanderer –

[youtube.com/watch?v=GvHA5HPEhx8]

Schubert / A. Brendel, 1961: Fantasy in C Major, D. 760 (Op. 15) – The Wanderer – 

Wanderer-Fantasie (German translation would Fantasy Traveller) is the popular name of the Opus 15 (D 760) in C major by Franz Schubert written in November 1822. This is a Fantasy for piano in the classical form of the sonata. There is strong correlation between movements, so this part is interpreted as a process of sonata with significant variations from the classical form.

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make music part of your life: Alfred Brendel, Plays Ludwig van Beethoven’s – Rondo in G major Op. 51 No. 2

[youtube.com/watch?v=CXDf1dzNmDc]

Ludwig van Beethoven – Rondo in G major Op. 51 No. 2

Alfred Brendel, Piano

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Great Compositions/Performances: Emil Gilels plays Ludwig van Beethoven’s – Piano Sonata #31 in A-Flat, Op. 110

[youtube.com/watch?v=MGUsaSZazEw]

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata #31 in A-Flat, Op. 110

Composed in 1821.

I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo (@ 0:00)
II. Allegro molto (@ 7:29)
III. Adagio — Fuga (@ 9:49)

Performed by Emil Gilels.
Paintings by William Blake.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed in 1821. It is the central piano sonata in the group of three opp. 109–111 which he wrote between 1820 and 1822, and the thirty-first of his published piano sonatas.

The sonata is in three movements. The moderato first movement in sonata form, marked con amabilità, is followed by a fast scherzo. The finale comprises a slow recitative and arioso dolente, a fugue, a return of the arioso lament, and a second fugue that builds to an affirmative conclusion.

Composition

In the summer of 1819 Moritz Schlesinger, from the Schlesinger firm of music publishers based in Berlin, met Beethoven and asked to purchase some compositions. After some negotiation by letter, and despite the publisher’s qualms about Beethoven’s retaining the rights for publication in England and Scotland, Schlesinger agreed to purchase 25 songs for 60 ducats and three piano sonatas at 90 ducats (Beethoven had originally asked 120 ducats for the sonatas). In May 1820 Beethoven agreed, the songs (op. 108) already being available, and he undertook to deliver the sonatas within three months. These three sonatas are the ones now known as opp. 109–111.

Beethoven was prevented from completing all three of the promised sonatas on schedule by factors including an attack of jaundice; Op. 109 was completed and delivered in 1820, but correspondence shows that Op. 110 was still not ready by the middle of December 1821, and the completed autograph score bears the date December 25, 1821. Presumably the sonata was delivered shortly thereafter, since Beethoven was paid the 30 ducats for this sonata in January 1822.

Form

Alfred Brendel characterizes the main themes of the sonata as all derived from the hexachord – the first six notes of the diatonic scale – and the intervals of the third and fourth that divide it. He also points out that contrary motion is a feature of much of the work, particularly prominent in the scherzo second movement.

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Piotr Anderszewski: The complete “Diabelli Variations Op. 120” by Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven ( 1770-1827)

33 Variatons on a Waltz by A. Diabelli Op. 120:
I. Tema. Vivace
II. Alla marcia, maestoso
III. Poco allegro
IV. L’istesso tempo
V. Un poco piu vivace
VI. Allegro vivace
VII. Allegro ma non troppo e serioso
VIII. Un poco piu allegro
IX. Poco vivace
X. Allegro pesante e risoluto
XI. Presto
XII. Allegretto
XIII. Un poco piu moto
IV. Vivace
XV. Grave e maestoso
XVI. Presto scherzando
XVII. Allegro
XVIII. L’istesso tempo
XIX. Poco moderato
XX. Presto
XXI. Andante
XXII. Allegro con brio-Meno allegro
XXIII. Allegro molto alla “Notte e giorno faticar”
XXIV. Allegro assai
XXV. Fughetta. Andante
XXVI. Allegro
XXVII. Allegretto
XXVIII. Vivace
XXIX. Allegro
XXX. Adagio ma non troppo
XXXI. Andante sempre cantabile
XXXII. Largo, molto espressivo
XXXIII. Fuga. Allegro
XXXIV. Tempo di Minuetto moderato

Piotr Anderszewski-piano

Complete score: http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imgl…

The 33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120, commonly known as the Diabelli Variations, is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. One of the supreme compositions for the piano, it often shares the highest honours with J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
The music writer Donald Tovey called it “the greatest set of variations ever written”. The pianist Alfred Brendel has described it as “the greatest of all piano works”. It also comprises, in the words of Hans von Bülow, “a microcosm of Beethoven’s art”. In Beethoven: The Last Decade 1817 — 1827, Martin Cooper writes, “The variety of treatment is almost without parallel, so that the work represents a book of advanced studies in Beethoven’s manner of expression and his use of the keyboard, as well as a monumental work in its own right”. In his Structural Functions of Harmony, Arnold Schoenberg writes that the Diabelli Variations “in respect of its harmony, deserves to be called the most adventurous work by Beethoven”.
Beethoven’s approach to the theme is to take some of its smallest elements — the opening turn, the descending fourth and fifth, the repeated notes — and build upon them pieces of great imagination, power and subtlety. Alfred Brendel wrote, “The theme has ceased to reign over its unruly offspring. Rather, the variations decide what the theme may have to offer them. Instead of being confirmed, adorned and glorified, it is improved, parodied, ridiculed, disclaimed, transfigured, mourned, stamped out and finally uplifted”.
Beethoven does not seek variety by using key-changes, staying with Diabelli’s C-major for most of the set: among the first twenty-eight variations, he uses the tonic minor only once. Then, nearing the conclusion, Beethoven uses the tonic minor for Variations 29–31 and for Variation 32, a triple fugue, he switches to E-flat major. Coming at this late point, after such a long period in C-major, the key-change has an increased dramatic effect. At the end of the fugue, a culminating flourish consisting of a diminished seventh arpeggio is followed by a series of quiet chords punctuated by silences. These chords lead back to Diabelli’s C-major for Variation 33, a closing minuet.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabelli…

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Ludwig van Beethoven – 5 Variations on “Rule Britannia” in D major WoO 79

Ludwig van Beethoven – 5 Variations on “Rule Britannia” in D major WoO 79
Alfred Brendel, Piano