Johannes Brahms - Variations Opp. 9, 24 and 35 (1991) MP3-320 Kbps [LAMB]

Johannes Brahms - Variations Opp. 9, 24 and 35 (1991)



Quality/Bitrate: 320 Kbps

Size: 161MB

Length: 70min 32s

Genre: Classical



1. Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 9

2. Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24

3. Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35 - Book 1

4. Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35 - Book 2



The Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Opus 9, were written in 1854. The theme chosen as a tribute to the composer was taken from Schumann's Opus 99 Bunte Blatter. In the summer of 1853 Clara Schumann had written her own >Opus 20 variations on the same theme. Early in 1854 Schumann had attempted suicide and in March entered the private asylum at Endenich where he remained until his death in 1856. Brahms wrote his Schumann variations in May and June in an attempt to offer Clara Schumann some comfort, as she recovered from the recent birth of her seventh surviving child, Felix, and the appalling situation in which she found herself. Brahms's variations were, as the autograph manuscript reveals, on a theme by HIM, dedicated to HER. The theme is from the first of the Bunte Blatter, with the ninth of the sixteen variations a paraphrase of the second of Schumann's little pieces. The tenth variation makes use in passing of a theme by Clara that Schumann himself had used in his Opus 5 Impromptus.



Brahms's Handel Variations were intended for Clara Schumann, the manuscript bearing a dedication to a beloved friend. The theme is taken from a suite for harpsichord, an air, followed originally by five variations. From this theme Brahms creates a remarkable work, a series of twenty-five variations followed by a final fugue, showing a consummate mastery of the form. The versions of the theme offered differ in mood and texture, but are all highly characteristic of their composer, who in no sense wears Handel's wig in the process. The whole set follows a tradition to which Beethoven had added very considerably.



The two books of Paganini Variations, Opus 35, carry the title of Studies, an accurate description of their nature and intention. The well known theme is that of the violinist Paganini's 24th Caprice, there too the subject for virtuoso variations. Brahms was influenced by the pianist Karl Tausig, whom he met in Vienna in 1862, and whose virtuosity as a performer offered something of a challenge. Unlike the Handel Variations, the Paganini Variations are not conceived in terms of the progressive development of the thematic material, and Clara Schumann, among others, was in the habit of making her own selection of variations for public performance. The two sets of fourteen variations explore the technical possibilities of the instrument and make considerable demands on a performer. They were first published in 1866.