Sunday Classics: In which we hear the three sets of variations on our VERY familiar theme

The set of variations by Mozart is so well known that Adolphe Adam, composer of one of our other sets of variations on the theme, seems to have thought the theme was Mozart's -- or at any rate his publisher seemed to suggest so; see the illustration in the click-through. (You can click on this image to enlarge it.)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON NOTE: I just got home (drenched from a two-hour walking tour in the rain) and found that the audio files aren't loading. GREAT!!! Seems to be some kind of glitch with the host site. The files are all there -- please try again! (It's always something. And you can quote me.)

A FEW MINUTES LATER THAT AFTERNOON: Seems to be OK now, but I live by the philosophy Mel Brooks gave such eloquent voice in The Twelve Chairs: "Hope for the best; expect the worst."

by Ken

To recap from last night's preview, this week we have three sets of variations on the same theme, which we previewed last night, at which time I claimed that you're almost certainly familiar with the theme. Since we've got the first page of the music staring at us above, let's plunge right in with the set of variations that was obviously known to our two later composers, Mozart's. The performance is from the great pianist Walter Gieseking's famous 1953 recording of Mozart's complete solo-piano music. (One thing you'll notice right off the bat is that Gieseking doesn't take the indicated repeats.)

MOZART: 12 Variations in C on the French Song "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" for Piano, K. 265
Walter Gieseking, piano. EMI, recorded in London, 1953


FOR MORE VARIATIONS ON OUR THEME, CLICK HERE

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