Immanuel Bah plays Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, No. 1 by Johannes Brahms

Immanuel Bah plays Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, No. 1 by Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms loved variation form. This is clear from the number of standalone variation sets he composed, as well as the numerous times he turned to variation form for a movement of a sonata or other work. All of these pieces are quite fine, but there’s something about Op. 21, No. 1 that I keep coming back to. Most of its duration occupies an inward, searching space that’s really appealing and hard to leave. Also notable is Brahms’s choice to write an original theme, rather than meditate on a tune of Handel, Haydn, Paganini, or his friend Robert Schumann (that particular set is also very personal, for different specific reasons). The other half of Op. 21 is yet another set, the energetic Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song. There’s a bigger context to Brahms’ variation explorations. He made no secret that he felt the weight of Beethoven’s shadow, and this piece may have been an attempt to truly master a form for which Beethoven had set an extremely high bar. The Arietta from Beethoven’s Op. 111 sonata is the most advanced and transcendent of all his variations, but Brahms, in his Variations on an Original Theme, achieved some of the same consoling, spirit-cleansing effects as that piece. Become our Patron! Support us! :   / lesalondelamusique   Subscribe to our Official Channel Telegram: English: https://t.me/smclassicenglish Italian: https://t.me/smclassicitaliano Spanish: https://t.me/smclassicspanish Subscribe to our Official Instagram Channel:   / lesalondelamusique   Subscribe to our Official Facebook page:   / lesalondelamusique   Subscribe to our Official Youtube Channel:    / lesalondelamusique