The name is believed to refer to Schumann's fictitious friend, Meta Abegg, whose surname Schumann used through a musical cryptogram as the motivic basis for the piece.
The pseudonym he gave her could have been Pauline von Abegg. Apparently, when he was twenty years old, Schumann said he met her and dedicated this work to her, as witnessed in Clara Schumann's edition of her husband's piano works.
The variations were composed between 1829 and 1830.
The first five notes of the theme are A, B (Bb), E, G, and G. (B is the German letter for Bb).
The structure is:-
Thema: Animato (lively) in 3/4 time.
Variation 1. Energico, (with energy) in 3/4.
Variation 2. il Basso parlando (make the bass more prominent than usually) in 3/4.
Variation 3. Corrente (running fluently) in 3/4.
Variation 4. Cantabile (in a singing style) in 9/8 (which is 3/4 time again but with 3 quavers to the beat instead of 2).
Finale: Vivace alla Fantasia (with life, like a phantasy) in 6/8 (like 2/4 time, as above).
(The picture is of Schumann at a young age, perhaps around the time he wrote these variations).
GlynGlynn, alias GB, realiser.
Please feel free to leave any comments, be they good, bad, or indifferent as to whether the piece, or the performance, moved you in any way whatsoever!
(Since music is an aural art, and not a visual one, it is best to listen to these pieces, and other artists performances, with eyes closed, so as to be able to listen intently as to how the music is portrayed).
15 сен 2024
