Variationen über ein eigenes Thema D-Dur Op.21-1 - Brahms, Johannes

Brahms, Johannes : Variationen über ein eigenes Thema D-Dur Op.21-1

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▼Overview

▼Details

▼Movements

▼Videos

▼Sheet Music

Work Overview

Music ID : 1545
Composition Year：1857　
Publication Year：1862
First Publisher：Simrock
Instrumentation：Piano Solo　
Genre：variation
Total Playing Time：18 min 00 sec
Copyright：Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Inada, Saeko

Last Updated: February 1, 2009

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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

This set of variations was composed in 1857. In June of the previous year, Brahms expressed his views on variations in a letter to his friend Joachim. He stated that "the relationship with the theme should be strict and pure," but composers after Beethoven, including himself, "cling to the melody." He was interested, rather, in basing variations on the bass and harmonic structure of the theme, thereby transforming them into new melodies. The resulting variations therefore employ a different approach from his previous work, the 16 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9, which emphasized the thematic melody.

The theme, composed by Brahms himself, is marked Poco larghetto and possesses a gentle, lullaby-like atmosphere characteristic of him. The subsequent eleven variations, though often changing tempo, largely maintain the theme's 9x2 + 9x2 bar structure, and the key and meter do not change frequently. Each variation possesses an independent character, but the harmony or bass provides the connection to the theme, thereby achieving overall unity. Furthermore, musical considerations such as changes in tempo and the use of climaxes are clearly evident.

Although less well-known than his later Handel Variations or Paganini Variations, this youthful set of variations by the 24-year-old composer is likely an important work in terms of marking a turning point in his variation technique.

Writer: Inada, Saeko