Kristian Riisager: A Testament to Hope

Review: AmericanRecordGuide

Ludwig van Beethoven

15 Variations with a Fugue in E flat Major, Op. 35 “Eroica Variations”
1.Introduzione col basso del tema – A due – A tre – A quattro – Theme
2. Variation I
3. Variation II
4. Variation III
5. Variation IV
6. Variation V
7. Variation VI
8. Variation VII
9. Variation VIII
10. Variation IX
11. Variation X
12. Variation XI
13. Variation XII
14. Variation XIII
15. Variation XIV: Minore
16. Variation XV: Maggiore. Largo – Coda
17. Finale alla Fuga – Andante con moto

6 Piano Variations in F Major, Op. 34
18. Theme: Adagio
19. Variation I
20. Variation II: Allegro ma non troppo
21. Variation III: Allegretto
22. Variation IV: Tempo di Minuetto
23. Variation V: Marcia. Allegretto
24. Variation VI: Allegretto – Coda – Adagio Molto

Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
25. Allegro assai
26. Andante con moto
27. Allegro ma non troppo

On the Verge of Despair ©
By Kristian Riisager

I usually only hear it said by others when I have new ideas, as I never know it myself, but this time – I must assure you, that the way of composing in both pieces are entirely new to me”* The quote was written by Beethoven in the fall of 1802 about his two new variation works, opus 34 and 35. Only 12 days before during a recreational stay in the small town Heiligenstadt, he had written his famous Heiligenstadt Testament as a reaction to his increasing deafness. In the preceding years his hearing had become gradually worse, and he had realized that it would probably never improve. Thus, he was caught in great despair. Not only did this development stand in the way of his work as a musician and improvisor, something which he in his first years in Vienna had achieved great acclaim for, but it moreover led to him being socially isolated from his surroundings.

“What a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard a shepherd singing and again I heard nothing. Such incidents drove me almost to despair, a little more of that and I would have ended my life. It was only my art that held me back. Oh, it seemed impossible to me to leave this world before I had produced all that I felt capable of producing.”** The testament and the stay in Heiligenstadt turned out to be a turning point in Beethoven’s work and marked a new musical era.

The opus 35, today known as the Eroica Variations, was at the time groundbreaking in many ways. Beethoven had already used the main theme two times prior, namely in 12 Contredanses WoO 14 (1800-02) and in his ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (1801). The ballet especially had achieved great success and the theme was therefore well known to the audience. As opposed to the traditional variation form, the opus 35 does not begin with the main theme, but instead with the presentation of, and hereafter three variations over the base line to the theme. Only then is the main theme introduced and the piece truly takes off. Thus, Beethoven plays with the expectations of the listener and the joy of recognition increases accordingly.

In opus 35 Beethoven moves between a huge variety of different moods, from the humoristic to the virtuoso, from the powerful to the intimate. He applies the piano in new and symphonic ways which differs from the perfected classical style of Mozart and Haydn. The more symphonic and powerful style came to define Beethoven’s work in the following decade before he in his late production moved in a more introverted and contrapuntal direction.

RELEASE DATE: February 2023

CATALOGUE NUMBER.: DACOCD 948

EAN: 5709499948002