Brahms - (5/8) Handel Variations nos. 13-18 {Ashkenazy}

Johannes Brahms

Vladmir Ashkenazy, piano

The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, was written in 1861. It consists of a set of twenty-five variations and a concluding fugue based on a theme from George Frideric Handel's Harpsichord Suite No. 1 in B-flat Major, HWV 434.

Variation XIII.

Variation 13 returns to the tonic minor in a funereal mood. It is the middle variation of the set and, in the view of Denis Matthews, the emotional centre. Right-hand sixths play against rolled chords in the left, perhaps suggesting muffled drums. For Tovey the lugubrious tone suggests a "kind of Hungarian funeral march," while Malcolm MacDonald sees it as "florid" and "a Hungarian fantasia." Here Brahms abandons the usual repeat signs and writes variations within the variation. Variations 13 and 14, while very different in character, are paired in being fast and exciting and in their the use of parallel sixths in the right hand.

Variation XIV.

Variation 14, marked sciolto ("loose") breaks the dark mood of Variation 13 and returns to the original key. With its extended trills and scalar runs in sixths in the right hand against broken octaves in the left hand, it is a virtuoso showpiece. The mood is of great energy, excitement and high spirits. It leads without a break into the following variation.

Donald Francis Tovey sees a grouping in variations 14-18, which he describes as "aris[ing] one out of the other in a wonderful decrescendo of tone and crescendo of Romantic beauty."

Variation XV.

Following without a pause from the previous number, Variation 15, marked forte, is a bravura variation building relentlessly toward an exciting climax. It consists of a one-bar pattern, varied only slightly, of two declamatory chords in eighth notes in the higher registers, followed by lower sixteenth notes that echo Handel's original turns. A prominent upbeat creates syncopated energy. It has been called an étude for Brahms's Second Piano Concerto. It breaks the structural mould of Handel's theme by adding one "extra" bar. In Brahms's first autograph Variations 15 and 16 were positioned in the reverse order.

Variation XVI.

Variation 16 continues from Variation 15 as a "variation of variation," repeating the pattern of two high eighth notes followed by a run of lower sixteenth notes. It also forms another pairing with Variation 17. Baroque contrapuntal techniques appear again in this canon, described by Malcolm MacDonald as "wittier" than the canon of no.6. The left hand begins with two descending staccato eighth notes, immediately followed in the opposite hand by the two eighth notes inverted, a full four octaves higher. In each case, a figure in sixteenth notes follows in canonic imitation. The effect is light and exhilarating.

Variation XVII.

In Variation 17 the absence of the sixteenth notes that were so prominent in the preceding two variations gives the impression of a slowing, despite the marking of più mosso. The effect is of gently falling raindrops, with gracefully descending broken chords in the right hand, piano and staccato, repeated throughout the work at various pitches. Each note is played twice, adding to the suggestion of a leisurely pace.

Variation XVIII.

Another "variation of variation," paired with the preceding Variation 17.

Category:

Music

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• Brahms
• Handel
• Variations

[janken919]

Great video, and great analysis of the variations.

[JohnnyTiDo]

Fantastic

[MrZnoo]

great