Orchestra
a Phantasy for Piano and Orchestra
Theme
Beethoven Variations – A Phantasy for Piano and Orchestra is a concerto for piano and orchestra, composed for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. The work is both a personal world of imagination and a contemporary musical reflection on Beethoven. A kaleidoscope of associations and themes unfolds into one another: Beethoven’s music encounters Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy and Shostakovich, as well as the Belvedere Torso and Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion.
Instrumentation
Solo Piano
1(picc).2.2(II=bcl).2 – 2.1.1.0 – Timpani – Strings (min. 7.7.6.4.3) (Double Basses: most, if not all, must have low extension)
Movements
1. Una Fantasia 2. Kammermusik 3. Barcelona Pavillon 4. Fuge 106 5. Variation I–III. March 6. Variation IV. Heroic 7. Variation V. Grid 8. Variation VI. Aria in Black 9. Florestan 10. Torso Belvedere 11. Variation VII–IX 12. Variation X. Ricercar 13. Variation XI. The Unknown of the Seine 14. Variation XII. Wanderer 15. Adagietto
Duration
00:58:00 Approximately
Release
2020 This Is (Not) Beethoven, Modern Recordings / BMG Sebastian Knauer, piano Zürcher Kammerorchester featuring Eldbjørg Hemsing, violin.
Awards
German Classical Charts – No. 6; US Billboard Classical Albums – No. 15 No. 1 iTunes Classical Charts in Germany, Italy and Switzerland Apple Music “Albums We Loved in 2020” CD of Month BR-Klassik und SR - featured on SWR, NDR, RBB, Klassik Radio, BBC, ORF, Deutschlandfunk und 3Sat u.a.
Selected Performances
- 19.09.20, Concert Hall “Latvija”, Ventspils, Latvia
- 08.06.21, Odessa Classics Music Festival, Odessa, Ukraine
- 22.04.22, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany
- 09.10.22, NDR Großer Sendesaal, Hanover, Germany