Abegg variations
The Abegg Variations (op. 1) are a work by Robert Schumann . They were composed between 1829 and 1830 and published in 1831 under the name “Thème sur le nom Abegg varié pour le pianoforte”. The total playing time is about eight minutes. The piece is continuous in the 3 / 4 written ¯ clock and composes in F, except the Cantabile that in the parallel key f is minor.
division
The variations consist of the following pieces:
- Theme (Animato)
- Variations I – III
- Cantabile
- Finale alla Fantasia.
Motif formation and naming
The name of the work goes back to the name of a lady whose letter combination of the surname ABEGG was processed into a motif from the notes of the same name. Schumann dedicated the variations to a Mademoiselle Pauline Comtesse d'Abegg, which certainly did not exist in concrete terms. But there was probably a lady named Meta Abegg, whose real first name was possibly different. Meta would (also) be understood as an anagram from the word theme or the Italian theme.
The ABEGG motif is more a basic idea in the piece than a tone sequence that is repeatedly treated and varied. Variations I – III deal roughly with this, the cantabile and the finale move further and further away from the motif.
plant
Overall, the work places high demands on the pianist. Some parts are played at a fast pace and involve technical difficulties, such as constantly moving the hand across the keyboard in complicated, not only scale-like sixteenth notes, sometimes with additional, simultaneous upper notes in the same hand, or the trilling of certain fingers on one hand while the others continue playing at the same time.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jürgen Otten: Reality and idealistic dream. Piano works by Schumann, Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninow, Haydn and Tan Dun. In: Program No. 62. Berliner Philharmoniker, May 29, 2004, archived from the original on January 5, 2011 ; accessed on September 30, 2013 .