Grandes études de Paganini

The Variation is a form that has been a particular favorite with composers, since it offers endless possibilities. A variation set presents alterations of a theme as it is repeated with new figurations, textures, and moods. Variations on a theme can be found not only in music, but also in art, architecture, and even nature - the world is full of variation. Just as the seasons provide us with ever-changing vistas against a fixed landscape, variations retain one or more constant features, such as the melody, bass line, harmonic progression or a fusion of these two elements, while other components are altered. Despite elaborations, such as character and rhythmic changes during a set of variations, a theme sometimes remains identifiable and the harmony preserved. Basically there are two types of variations. The sectional set of variations is usually based on a borrowed or original melody. The continuous type is built upon a short pattern of notes in the bass register, also referred to as a ground bass. The latter includes continuous variations of late 16th and 17th Century dances, such as the Chaconne, Passacaglia and English Ground. Here the ostinato serves at the theme - its repetitions generate a continuously unfolding structure. This CD contains a mix of well-known and obscure works that span three centuries. Chopin variations serve as the bookends, while the rest of the works include continuous variations written for the harpsichord or virginal from the 16th-18th Centuries and works for piano from the late 18th and 19th Centuries. Chopin's set of variations on the German national air, Der Schweizerbub (“The Cattleboy”) was written around 1826 when Chopin was at the ripe old age of sixteen. An elaborate introduction opens the work, followed by the simple theme, a Tyrolean folksong first published in 1822. The basic tonic-dominant harmonic scheme of the theme supports the four variations, which feature brilliant keyboard writing. The work ends with a colorful waltz, whose thematic ties to the Schweizerbub melody are the most subtle. The melancholic melody in My Lady Carey's Dompe is accompanied by an ostinato based on a repetitive sonic-dominant harmonic bass pattern. The work, written around 1525 by an anonymous composer, belongs to the same category as a passacaglia or chaconne. This lament can be considered a series of continuous variations with the fixed bass line as the “theme.” The upper voice part is embellished as it is repeated. A New Ground, written by Purcell around 1683, is a keyboard transcription of the aria “Here the Deities Approve” from the ode, “Welcome to the Pleasures.” The ornamented upper voice is composed over a twenty-four note basso ostinato pattern, which employs an early Baroque formula of a chromatic descent from tonic to dominant within a broken chord pattern. This continuous variation changes moods and becomes more intense, but then calms down and returns to the opening material. Bach's harpsichord work, Aria and Variations in the Italian Manner, is the harbinger of the monumental Goldberg Variations of his mature years. Probably composed before 1714 in Weimar, this earlier sectional set of variations combines elements of melodic-outline and constant-harmony techniques. The variations, bounded by a contemplative Aria, appear in different tempi and transform in character, and are embellished with varied rhythmic designs and figurations. By the middle of the 18th Century, constant-harmony technique was firmly established, and ostinato variations virtually vanished. Mozart's charming set of variations on Paisiello's Salve tu Domine was improvised by the composer at a concert in Vienna on March 23, 1783 and published soon afterwards. Paisiello was a great music dramatist of the Italian stage, and Mozart confessed to a great love for his work. Salve tu Domine, Paisiello's most popular sacred tune, resembles a vocal duet - this theme is present in all the variations. The last three variations display Mozart's tribute to Paisiello with their theatrical elements. They are full of improvisatory theatrical cadenzas that are laced with virtuosic passages, recitatives, and grand pauses. Bearing a dedication to Clara Schumann, Liszt's Paganinin Etude no. 6, from the Six Grandes Etudes d'apres les Caprices de Paganini (composed 1838-39, revised 1851), is a transcription of Paganini's brilliant Caprice for Violin, Op. 1, no. 24. Liszt retains every note of the original and adapts the violin's figuration to the keyboard with imaginative pianistic effects. This famous theme was also utilized later by Brahms and Rachmaninov, among others. Viennese-born Henri Herz (1803-1888) first performed his Fantasia on American National Airs in 1847 in Mobile, Alabama, during one of his concert tours in the United States. An Introduction and Chopinesque “Cantabile” open the work, followed by varied treatments of three American patriotic tunes - “Jackson's March”, “Hail Columbia”, and “Yankee Doodle.” All three tunes combine for the rousing finale. Hexameron, a set of grand variations on a theme from Bellini's opera, “March of the Puritans”, was composed in 1837 to entertain rich patrons at Princess Belgioioso's charity concert to benefit Italian refugees who were victims of oppression. The work is a compilation of different styles by six different composer-pianists - Liszt, Thalberg, Pixis, Herz, Czerny and Chopin. Each contributed a variation, while Liszt added an Introduction, Interludes, and a Finale. Liszt compressed the previous variations in the virtuosic Finale into a sort of parody. Nevertheless, Liszt chose to write a slow, serious variation (Variation II) in which he presents harmonic changes and modulations on the theme. Variation IV by Herz spins out with delight, followed by Chopin's exquisitely beautiful variation in the cool key of E Major (Variation VI). Liszt joins in at the end of Chopin's contribution with a postlude that quotes a phrase from his Introduction.Recorded at White Recital Hall, Conservatory of Music and Dance, The University of Missouri-Kansas City, August 2005 and March 2007.Credits--Production Engineers: Robert Beck, Ryan Kleeman; Piano Technician: Kent Swofford.Variationen uber das Lied Der Schweizerbub ("The Cattleboy"). Introduzione--Animato (:48) ; Thema--Andantino (:55) ; Variation I (:37) ; Variation II (:46) ; Variation III (:56) ; Variation IV--Meno mosso (:1:56) ; Tempo di Valise (1:49) / Frederic Chopin -- My Lady Carey's Dompe (c. 1525) / Anonymous (2:08) -- A New Ground in e minor, Z. T682 / Henry Purcell (2:45) -- Aria Variata alla Maniera Italiana in a minor, BWV 989. Aria (2:33) ; Variatio I--Largo (1:20) ; Variatio II (1:06) ; Variatio III (1:45) ; Variatio IV--Allegro (:58) ; Variatio V--Un poco Allegro (1:22) ; Variatio VI--Andante (1:45) ; Variatio VII--Un poco Allegro (:49) ; Variatio VIII--Allegro ((:54) ; Variatio IX (:39) ; Variatio X (2:24) / J.S. Bach -- Six Variations on Salve tu Domine by Paisiello, K. 398. Tema--Moderato (:41) ; Variation I ((:38) ; Variation II (:39) ; Variation III (:45) ; Variation IV--Minore (1:21) ; Variation V--Maggiore (1:08) ; Variation VI (2:23) / W.A. Mozart -- Paganini Etude no. 6 in a minor (from Six Grandes Etudes d'apres les Caprices de Paganini). Theme--Quasi Presto (:27) ; Variation I (:17) ; Variation II (:23) ; Variation III (:20) ; Variation IV (:17) ; Variation V (:22) ; Variation VI (:22) ; Variation VII (:22) ; Variation VIII--Animato (:15) ; Variation IX (:19) ; Variation X--Piu moderato (:37) ; Variation XI (1:29) / Franz Liszt -- Variations Brillantes et Grande Fantasie sur des Airs Nationaux Americains Op. 153. Introduction--Cantabile (3:00) ; Jackson's March (2:07) ; Variation--Piu mosso e brillantissimo (1:16) ; Hail Columbia--Andante sostenuto (1:17) ; Allegretto tranquillo (:52) ; Yankee Doodle (:17) ; Variation I (:17) ; Variation II (:18) ; Variation III (:18) ; Piu Lento--Finale (1:32) / Henri Herz -- Hexameron : Morceau de concert--Grandes Variations de Bravoure sur la Marche des Puritains de Bellini. Variation II--Moderato / Franz Liszt (2:44) ; Variation IV--Legato e grazioso / Henri Herz (1:33) ; Variation VI--Legato / Frederic Chopin, (Coda) Liszt (2:43).Digitized by the University of Missouri-Kansas City on 2012-04-06. CD captured as .ram files