Variations sérieuses
Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, is a composition for solo piano by Felix Mendelssohn consisting of a theme in D minor and 17 variations. It was completed on 4 June 1841. A performance lasts about eleven minutes.[1]
The work was written as part of a campaign to raise funds for the erection of a large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven in his home town of Bonn.[2] The publisher Pietro Mecchetti asked Mendelssohn to contribute to a 'Beethoven Album', published in January 1842, which also included pieces by Liszt, Chopin, Moscheles and others, of which the proceeds would go to the Monument.[3] (Schumann's Fantasie in C was the final result of a work originally intended for the same purpose).
Mendelssohn is known to have written three sets of piano variations, but only this one was published during his lifetime.[4]
Many of the variations require a virtuoso technique. Mendelssohn's good friend Ignaz Moscheles stated "I play the Variations sérieuses again and again, each time I enjoy the beauty again." Ferruccio Busoni also liked the work very much. Many pianists have recorded it, including Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Rena Kyriakou, Vladimir Sofronitsky and Murray Perahia.
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Structure
- Theme – Variation 1: Andante sostenuto
- Un poco più animato
- Più animato
- –
- Agitato
- A tempo
- Con fuoco
- Allegro vivace
- –
- Moderato
- Cantabile
- Tempo di tema
- Sempre assai leggiero
- Adagio
- Poco a poco più agitato
- Allegro vivace
- –
References
- ↑ Variations sérieuses (17) in D minor, Op. 54
- ↑ New York Philharmonic
- ↑ Todd, R. Larry (2003). Mendelssohn, A Life in Music, p.414. Oxford. ISBN 978-0195179880
- ↑ Variations sérieuses, for piano in D minor, Op. 54; Composition Description
External links
- Variations sérieuses: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
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