Performers
- Illia Ovcharenko piano
Programme
Robert Schumann Etudes in Variation Form on a Theme by Beethoven, WoO 31 [15’]
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (arr. for piano solo Ferenc Liszt S.464/7) [40’]
I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace
II. Allegretto
III. Scherzo: Presto – Trio: Assai meno presto
IV. Allegro con brio
Concert description
A somber, tragic tone pervades the slow movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The Allegretto’s main theme is a procession of chords in the insistent, repetitive rhythm of a funeral march. There is both mourning and sadness as well as anger in it, standing in stark opposition to the exuberant, even unleavened and joyful expression of the themes in the other movements of the symphony, which Richard Wagner called “the apotheosis of the dance.” Beethoven wrote it in 1811 and 1812, at the height of his career as a composer and over the brink of a lifelong tragedy, gradually and irreversibly losing his hearing.
This poignant march theme, which is deeply memorable, was chosen by Robert Schumann as the leitmotif of his variations. In the traditional form of a variation, each miniature differs from one another, being a study of another aspect of piano technique. Schumann’s work has a special character, dominated by figuration and romantic virtuosity. The composer – who struggled for most of his life with personal dramas and mental illness – never completed it as a whole. He left three manuscripts, written for different occasions, and the variations were not published for the first time until after his death.
– Karolina Dąbek (pisanezesluchu.pl)
Partner: Zygmunt Zaleski Foundation