{"id":11940,"date":"2022-11-08T12:40:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T12:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/?p=11940"},"modified":"2022-11-09T20:25:59","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T20:25:59","slug":"variations-on-nostalgia-boris-berman-plays-brahms-and-silvestrov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/albums\/variations-on-nostalgia-boris-berman-plays-brahms-and-silvestrov-11940\/","title":{"rendered":"Variations on Nostalgia \u2013 Boris Berman Plays Brahms and Silvestrov"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent months, the 85-year-old Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov has received the world’s attention more than ever due to the ongoing war. Silvestrov’s piano music covers more than half a century, and it would be hard to find a better proponent for it than the composer’s longtime friend Boris Berman, whose coming album offers a panorama of the composer’s evolution. Berman has also just released a new Brahms album \u2013 and feels an affinity between the two composers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In addition to being an active performer and dedicated teacher of international stature, Boris Berman has a very rich discography. One of his most noted recordings is of Prokofiev’s complete solo piano works (Chandos), a task which he was the first pianist ever to undertake. He has also released recitals of music by Scriabin, Shostakovich, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schnittke, Cage \u2013 even, quite unexpectedly, a recording of Scott Joplin’s Ragtimes (Ottavo). Recently, Berman has recorded both solo and chamber music by Brahms for the French label Le Palais des D\u00e9gustateurs. Piano Street met Boris Berman at the Cremona Musica exhibition, where he presented a new Brahms solo album and a double album portrait of the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, due for release in November.<\/p>\n

Brahms: Variations and Other Works<\/h2>\n

While Berman’s previous Brahms double album focused on the complete Klavierst\u00fccke (Opp. 76 to 119), the current release features more rarely performed works, such as the two variation sets Op. 21, the arrangement for the left hand of Bach’s Chaconne in D minor, and the recently discovered Albumblatt<\/a> (for which Berman uses the Piano Street Urtext Edition). \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Theme and Variations Op. 18b
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Variations on an Original Theme Op. 21 No. 1
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Variations on a Hungarian Song Op. 21 No. 2
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Study 5 – after a Chaconne by Bach
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Albumblatt in A minor
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\u2013 The theme of your Brahms recital could be summed up as ‘Variation and Transcription’. In fact, the transcriptions on the program (The slow movement of Brahms’s own String Sextet op. 18, and Bach’s Chaconne for Solo Violin) are also variation works. What did the concept of variation mean to Brahms?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 The form of variations, and even more so, the principle of variation were very important for Brahms. It was observed by no lesser musician than Arnold Schoenberg. In his lecture \u201cBrahms the Progressive\u201d Schoenberg labeled Brahms\u2019s compositional technique as \u201cdeveloping variation\u201d. Working on his variation sets one observes the inventiveness of melodic variations and embellishment, as well as his frequent adherence to the Baroque practice of basing variations on an unchanged bass line of the theme. In a letter to a music critic he wrote: \u201cTo me the bass is holy, it is the firm ground on which I then build my stories.\u201d This explains Brahms’s fascination with Bach\u2019s Chaconne.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Brahms’s transcription of Bach’s Chaconne has been described as \u201cfaithful to the point of severity.” Apparently, he thought that using only the left hand brought him closer to the original. What is your view on the ‘one-armedness’ of this piece?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 One of the most dramatic features of the Bach Chaconne is the tension between the limiting medium of an unaccompanied violin and the fullness and majesty of the musical content. I believe that Brahms\u2019s arrangement preserves it wonderfully. In my opinion, this tension is lost in Busoni\u2019s lush transcription, though admirable in many other ways. The letter to Clara Schumann which he sent together with the score of his arrangement is so wonderful that I would like to quote it here in its entirety:<\/p>\n

“Dear Clara,
\nI would like to believe that I have not for a long time sent you something as enjoyable as I do today\u2014if your fingers can endure the pleasure! The chaconne is for me one of the most wondrous, most unfathomable pieces of music. On one staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the most profound thoughts and the most powerful feelings. If I were to imagine that I could have made, could have conceived the piece, I know for certain that the overwhelming excitement and shock would have driven me crazy. If one has no great violinist at hand, it is the most beautiful pleasure to simply let it sound in one\u2019s mind.
\nBut the piece entices one to occupy oneself with it in every way. One does not always want to hear music sounding just in the air, Joachim is not often there, one tries it this way and that. But whatever I try, orchestra or piano \u2014 for me the pleasure is always spoiled.
\nOnly in one way, I have discovered, can I create for myself a very reduced but approximate and completely pure pleasure in the work\u2014when I play it with my left hand alone! Sometimes the story of Columbus and the egg even occurs to me! The similar difficulty, the kinds of technique, the arpeggiating, everything comes together so that\u2014I feel like a violinist!
\nTry it out, I wrote it down just for you. But: do not overwork your hand! It demands so much sound and strength; play it mezza voce for a while. And make the chords manageable and comfortable for you. If it doesn\u2019t overwork you\u2014which I believe it may, however\u2014you should have a great deal of fun with it.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Brahms: Variations and other works \u2013 listen to excerpts<\/h3>\n