Variations in F minor

Last updated

The Andante with variations in F minor (Hoboken 17/6), also known as Un piccolo divertimento, was composed for piano by Joseph Haydn in 1793, and is among his most popular piano works. (The late British composer and pianist John McCabe, in his booklet note accompanying his boxed set of recordings of Haydn's complete solo keyboard music, was of the opinion that it was possibly inspired by the death of Maria Anna von Genzinger (1754–93, called "Marianne") [p. 23]. McCabe also says that this piece is Haydn's "most extended and most resourceful such work for the keyboard" [p. 22].) The variations here are a set of double variations, the first theme is in F minor and the second theme in F major. Two variations of each theme and an extended coda follow.

The manuscript of the Variations is owned by the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. For the Haydn bicentennial in 2009, G. Henle Verlag published a facsimile of the manuscript.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonata</span> Type of instrumental composition

Sonata, in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata, a piece sung. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until the Classical era, when it took on increasing importance. Sonata is a vague term, with varying meanings depending on the context and time period. By the early 19th century, it came to represent a principle of composing large-scale works. It was applied to most instrumental genres and regarded—alongside the fugue—as one of two fundamental methods of organizing, interpreting and analyzing concert music. Though the musical style of sonatas has changed since the Classical era, most 20th- and 21st-century sonatas still maintain the same structure.

Sonata form is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th century.

<i>Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini</i> Concertante by Sergei Rachmaninoff

The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto, all in a single movement. Rachmaninoff wrote the work at his summer home, the Villa Senar in Switzerland, according to the score, from 3 July to 18 August 1934. Rachmaninoff himself, a noted performer of his own works, played the piano part at the piece's premiere on 7 November 1934, at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 94 (Haydn)</span> Musical work of Joseph Haydn, composed in 1791

The Symphony No. 94 in G major is the second of the twelve London symphonies written by Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as the Surprise Symphony.

In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)</span> Piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period ; it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and was dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick. The first edition was published in February 1807 in Vienna.

Symphony No. 103 in E major is the eleventh of the twelve London symphonies written by Joseph Haydn. This symphony is nicknamed The Drumroll after the long roll on the timpani with which it begins. It is from 1795, and his second-to-last symphony.

D-flat major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)</span> Concertante work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, is a concerto composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for keyboard and orchestra. Mozart composed the concerto in the winter of 1785–1786, finishing it on 24 March 1786, three weeks after completing his Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. As he intended to perform the work himself, Mozart did not write out the soloist's part in full. The premiere was in early April 1786 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Chronologically, the work is the twentieth of Mozart's 23 original piano concertos.

The Symphony No. 98 in B major, Hoboken I/98, is the sixth of the twelve London symphonies composed by Joseph Haydn. It was completed in 1792 as part of the set of symphonies composed on his first trip to London. It was first performed at the Hanover Square Rooms in London on 2 March 1792.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McCabe (composer)</span> English composer and pianist

John McCabe was a British composer and pianist. He created works in many different forms, including symphonies, ballets, and solo works for the piano. He served as director of the London College of Music from 1983 to 1990. Guy Rickards praised him as "one of Britain's finest composers in the past half-century" and "a pianist of formidable gifts and wide-ranging sympathies".

The six String Quartets, Op. 76, by Joseph Haydn were composed in 1797 or 1798 and dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdődy (1754–1824). They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed. At the time of the commission, Haydn was employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy II and was composing the oratorio The Creation as well as Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy's annual mass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano four hands</span> Duet using one piano

Piano four hands is a type of piano duet involving two players playing the same piano simultaneously. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is generally referred to as a piano duo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Trio No. 39 (Haydn)</span>

Joseph Haydn's Piano Trio No. 39 in G major, Hob. XV/25 was written in 1795, during the final few weeks of Haydn's second trip to London, and one of a set of three dedicated to Rebecca Schroeter. It is perhaps his best-known piano trio and sometimes nicknamed the "Gypsy" or "Gypsy Rondo" trio because of its Rondo finale in 'Hungarian' style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartets, Op. 20 (Haydn)</span> Six string quartets by Joseph Haydn

The six string quartets Op. 20 by Joseph Haydn are among the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet". The quartets are considered a milestone in the history of composition; in them, Haydn develops compositional techniques that were to define the medium for the next 200 years.

<i>The Well-Tempered Clavier</i> Collection of keyboard music by J.S. Bach

The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, clavier referred to a variety of stringed keyboard instruments, most typically the harpsichord or clavichord, but excluding the organ, which is not a stringed keyboard.

The Piano Sonata in D major, Hob. XVI/33, L. 34, was written in possibly 1777 by Joseph Haydn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Sonata Hob. XVI/20</span>

The Sonata in C minor is a keyboard sonata composed by Joseph Haydn in 1771. It is also referred to as a piano sonata. The three-movement work was published by Artaria in 1780 in a set of six sonatas dedicated to the sisters Katharina and Marianna Auenbrugger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartets, Op. 50 (Haydn)</span> String quartets by Joseph Haydn

The String Quartets, Op. 50, were composed by Joseph Haydn in 1787. The set of six quartets was dedicated to King Frederick William II of Prussia. For this reason the set is commonly known as the Prussian Quartets. Haydn sold the set to the Viennese firm Artaria and, without Artaria's knowledge, to the English publisher William Forster. Forster published it as Haydn's Opus 44. Haydn's autograph manuscripts for Nos. 3 to 6 of the set were discovered in Melbourne, Australia, in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartets (Beethoven)</span>

The Piano Quartets, WoO 36, by Ludwig van Beethoven are a set of three piano quartets, completed in 1785 when the composer was aged 14. They are scored for piano, violin, viola and cello. He composed a quartet in C major, another in E-flat major, and a third in D major. They were first published posthumously in 1828, however numbered in a different order: Piano Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Piano Quartet No. 2 in D major, and Piano Quartet No. 3 in C major.

References