Niccolò Paganini’s 24th Caprice for solo violin has provided an irresistible blueprint for numerous composers. Most famously, its jaunty, infectious melody inspired the 24 variations of Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43.
Nearly seventy years before Rachmaninov, in 1863, Johannes Brahms composed his own Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35. The work is organized in two books, each made up of fourteen blazingly athletic variations, and each concluding with a climactic display of virtuosic fireworks in the coda.
Perhaps Brahms, with a twinkle in his eye, was attempting to one-up the pyrotechnics of Franz Liszt. Brahms dedicated the Variations to the celebrated virtuoso pianist, Karl Tausig (1841-1871), one of Liszt’s greatest students. Clara Schumann referred to the work as Hexenvariationen (“Witch’s Variations”) as a result of its difficulty. 19th century American music critic James Huneker wrote,
Brahms and Paganini! Was ever so strange a couple in harness? Caliban and Ariel, Jove and Puck. The stolid German, the vibratile Italian! Yet fantasy wins, even if brewed in a homely Teutonic kettle … These diabolical variations, the last word in the technical literature of the piano, are also vast spiritual problems. To play them requires fingers of steel, a heart of burning lava, and the courage of a lion.
Initially, Brahms considered the Variations to be nothing more than a “finger exercise.” In fact, they are thrillingly dramatic on a purely musical level. Variation 12 (Book 1) inhabits a distant, dreamy landscape, while Variation 13 erupts as a boisterous Gypsy dance. Variation 7 (Book 2) is a dizzying display of rhythmic complexity.
Taken with Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody, Brahms’ Variations show the nearly infinite possibilities that can spring from one of the catchiest tunes ever conceived.
This brilliant concert performance features Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. It was recorded at Kissin’s 1995 London debut.
Recordings
- Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35, Evgeny Kissin Amazon