Ernst von Dohnányi - Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25 (1914)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Ernst von Dohnányi (Hungarian: Dohnányi Ernő 27 July 1877 - 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used a German form of his name on most of his published compositions.
Variaitions on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25 (1914)
Introduction. Maestoso
Theme. Allegro
Variation I. Poco più mosso
Variation II. Risoluto
Variation III. L'istesso tempo
Variation IV. Molto meno mosso (Allegretto moderato)
Variation V. Più mosso
Variation VI. Ancora più mosso (Allegro)
Variation VII. Walzer (Tempo Giusto)
Variation VIII. Alla marcia (Allegro moderato)
Variation IX. Presto
Variation X. Passacaglia (Adagio non troppo)
Variation XI. Choral (Maestoso)
Finale fugato (Allegro vivace)
Victor Aller, piano and the Concert Arts Orchestra conducted by Felix Slatkin
The Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25 is subtitled For the enjoyment of humorous people and for the annoyance of others.
Written in 1914, it captures the spirit of Romanticism, and manages to delight and enthrall in its sparkling piano writing and lush orchestral textures, and its wit in the treatment of the theme - the French nursery song Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman, otherwise known as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Like Dohnányi, Mozart also wrote variations on this nursery tune (K. 265/300e).
The Introduction is Wagnerian in its writing, with faux pathos, brasses blaring and strings thick and dense. The outline of the theme appears indistinctly but unmistakably in the horns, a hint of what is to come. After a long drawn-out conclusion which grows ever quieter while continually building the tension, we have a belch from the orchestra and a short pause, followed by a quiet restatement of the theme on the piano accompanied by pizzicato strings.
What follows is a witty, artful set of variations ranging from the innocent first variation to the romantic third variation, the scurrying sixth variation, the boisterous, overcooked waltz in the seventh variation and the pathos-laden tenth variation which alludes to the Wagnerian opening. Dohnányi treats the piano and orchestra as equals - every instrument is given its chance to shine.
Dohnányi alludes to many different works, or composers' distinctive compositional styles, in the piece. For instance, variation 8 suggests the march from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" Symphony. Debussy is alluded to, with the ethereal harmonies of the 11th variation. Dohnányi pokes fun at nearly every composer his audience of 1914 would have been familiar with.
3:35 Tema Allegro
4:37 Var I Poco piu mosso
5:14 Var II Risoluto
5:46 Var III
7:33 Var IV Molto meno mosso
8:44 Var V Piu mosso
9:46 Var VI Ancora piu mosso
10:27 Var VII Walzer
12:43 Var VIII Alla marcia
14:12 Var IX Presto
15:38 Andante rubato
16:05 Var X Passacaglia
19:47 Var XI Choral (Maestoso)
21:48 Finale fugato (Allegro vivace)
23:36 Tempo del Tema
24:31 Molto allegro
thank you so much I'm rehearsing this for a show in 2 days
One of my all-time favourite pieces, I never thought I would ever see a score video of it! Awesome job!
I remember it like yesterday... It was a cold winter saturday morning. I was, I think, 15 years old, and was attending Prof. Brusco's class at the Conservatory in Buenos Aires. He just put the CD of this variations and didn't say a thing, but looked us while the introduction developed. All in order to see our faces when the theme started...
Thank you SO much, Bartje. I couldn't resist to listen it all in this sunny and cold saturday morning, here in Buenos Aires...
Many thanks for post !!!
I think this was the first piece of music I ‘discovered’ for myself - at Cambridge 63 years ago. A great pity it’s hardly ever played on the radio as would be a brilliant way for the young to find their way out of pop culture and into Classical music.
Thankfully, there are some popular series (particularly anime) that feature classical music and are causing younger people to become interested in it.
That epic opening reminds me of the opening to Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1.
That might be my favorite version of twinkle winkle.
For those seeking simplicity itself - perhaps made more simple by what surrounds it... another comparable piece is the composer's 'Pastorale'. th-cam.com/video/_1ek9nE0trY/w-d-xo.html
This is seriously one of my favorite classical pieces of all time. It isn't only funny. It seems like a storm of real emotions being evoked by those dissonant chords. I feel like it is communicating the end of childhood and then nostalgically going back to it. I hope those chords weren't only a parody of some composers. That would kind of ruin the emotional authenticity of it.
“Dohnányi alludes to many different works, or composers' distinctive compositional styles, in the piece. For instance, variation 8 suggests the march from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" Symphony. Debussy is alluded to, with the ethereal harmonies of the 11th variation. Dohnányi pokes fun at nearly every composer his audience of 1914 would have been familiar with.”
- Wikipedia
This is a wonderful recording. Thank you for posting.
Along this line, one might take a listen to Carpenter's "Adventures in a Perambulator."
Yes... the simplicity of the 'nursery' theme... Dohnanyi mastered the simple (perhaps enhanced by everything he put around it). th-cam.com/video/_1ek9nE0trY/w-d-xo.html
An acoustically well-balanced recording. A work by Dohnányi showing much humor and with a powerful orchestration. The conductor and musicians all have a real grip on the piece! There are passages that never really stood out until this performance! A wonderful upload, and I think a nicer overall performance than any I've heard. BTW, it's amazing how much work you put into these videos including the scores synchronized with the music allowing one to follow. I appreciate your uploads. Great work!
Thank you, error corrected.
3:36 twinkle twinkle little star
12:43 Little Russian Tchaikovsky
MANY thanks for posting this score and for using a delightful older recording. Time well spent!
Yes, I ve no words to thank these generous people for sharing such beautiful music pieces. It s all new for me!!!
It's not the same Dohnanyi, who wrote the famous etude-capriccio?
There are several notable Dohnányis, only one was a composer, and only one of Ernő's two sons became a musician, Christoph, who is a world-famous conductor. The other one, Hans was a German resistance activist who was delivered to a concentration camp and in a tragic and cruel irony of fate, he was hanged by *piano* wire.
that joke
14:13 that perfect articulation in bassoon ❤️
14:57 Piccolo with Contrabassoon is funny
15:07 some influence of Strauss (Till Eulenspiegel)
Thanks for those labels, and good shout that Variation IX is a send-up of Till Eulenspiegel; I was wondering where those low reed colours at the beginning could be from, then I heard the chromatic muted trumpets and E-flat clarinet, and seeing your comment it all made sense!
14:13 must be a parody of the broom theme from Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice…
always loved this piece (and having the score...) PLUS: excellent performance !!
I love it! Thank you so much! 🥰
Thank you so much for posting this. Not only have I become acquainted with a loely composition I didn't previously know (shame on me), I also was able to follow the score. Plus the performance by Felix Slatkin etc. is one of the best in my opinion, and one in which Variation n. V is made clear by the prominent bells (which in other performances---I have compared---are hidden or absent, replaced by Glockenspiel for example). Thanks again.
Wonderful!
me agradó mucha música suave y dulce, exquisita al oído
Such a delightful piece. I could imagine a 2924 version with Daniil Trifonov, the orchestra of Santa Cecilia, Roma with J.Hrusa giving as breathtaking performance as their Gershwin Concerto in Berlin on the 14th in the Philharmonie.....😊
Dohnányi often has snippets of other composers' music. Dohnányi's Piano Concerto #2, 3rd movement has a snippet of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #3, 3rd movement.
На 3:35 это mozart 12 вариаций kv 265