La Ci Darem La Mano Variations

[akonow]

Does anyone have any information on this spectacular Chopin piece? For example, when was it written, why, and did he write it only for piano and orchestra or did he make transcriptions? Thanks.

[pianistimo]

From 'A History of the Concerto' by Michael Thomas Roeder - page 221-222

'Chopin was an outstanding pianist from an early age and was almost self-taught in harmony and composition. He was overwhelmed by and attracted to Hummel's virtuosity when the latter played in Warsaw in 1828.  Within a year, at the age of nineteen, Chopin had made highly successful appearances in Vienna.  This city was still a very important artistic center, although not in the forefront of most new musical developments as were London and Paris.  For these concerts he performed his own recently composed pieces for piano and orchestra in the popular virtuoso style.

These early works were in the popular variations or rondo form and were built around popular tunes and/or exotic dance rhythms.  In 1827, the seventeen year-old Chopin composed the first, Op. 2, Variations on 'La Ci Darem la Mano' (from Mozart's Don Giovanni, 1787).  It was a great success in Vienna and spread his fame to other centers.   Robert Schumann (1810-1856), at the age of twenty-one, wrote one of his first important articles in his NEwe Zeitschrift fur Musik after studying Opus 2 in published form.  Schumann first explicated his distaste for the empty virtuosity of Kalkbrenner and Moscheles, but then went on to find much to admire in Chopin's display piece, which elicited his often quoted, 'hats off, gentlemen!  A genius!'  Clara Wieck, later to become Schumann's wife, played the work in Leipzig in 1832....'

[pianistimo]

'Chopin's Op.2 is thoroughly characteristic of the nonconcerto virtuoso works for solo instrument and orchestra of the time.  As we saw in Chapter 12, theme and variations form was a particularly suitable vehicle for virtuosic display.  Popular tunes of the day, often from operas, regularly served as the themes for such variations to ensure widespread acceptance by audiences.  The basic melody and underlying harmony were essentially given, freeing the composer to write ornamental figuration that lent itself to ready alternation from variation to variation; the composer had little else to worry about.  A brief analysis of Op. 2 highlights the features typical of such an approach.'

[pianistimo]

'The piece begins with a long, slow introduction based on the theme's opening measure.  The theme, five variations, and a final alla polacca section, in the style of a freer variation, follow.  In characteristic fashion, each variation is more animated than its predecessor.  The first variation introduces a running sixteenth-note triplet figure.  The second variation is a very fast moto perpetuo with constant 32nd-note activity in both hands in parallel motion.  Normally, in variations conceived for piano, one variation typically focuses on the left hand, a practice Chopin follows in variation three.  Here an active, flowing left-hand part has some sections of rapidly repeated notes and arpeggios in Weber-like fashion.  Variation four is fiery, requiring a quick, oscillating motion of the hands in contrary motion on large leaps.  Short staccato notes accentuate the motion, enhancing the aural and visual display.  The final pair of variations is normally designed to serve two contrasting objectives.   The penultimate variation is usually slow, in the minor mode, and designed to allow the soloist to display his or her dramatic side by playing music involving great dynamic shifts and bold accents, a pattern Chopin observed in Op. 2.  The final variation or the closing section of such a piece is the most brilliant, as is the alla polacca finale, which, as the title implies, uses strong dance rhythms.'

[pianistimo]

In a letter, Chopin reported with satisfaction that the audience applauded after each variation - a characteristic practice of the time - rather than waiting for the conclusion of the work to express appreciation.  Opus 2 became so popular that Chopin often played it without orchestral accompaniment.  The perfunctory orchestral part can be readily eliminated, as is often true of music in this genre.  He simply had to alter the piano part in a few places to make it work as a solo piano piece.'

'Chopin wrote two other works of this kind.  The Grand Fantasia in A Major on Polish Airs, Op. 13 (1818), builds on the virtuosity of Op. 2 but extends it.  Opus 13 is truly an example of a potpourri.  In it Chopin uses three themes:  a pastoral folk song, a melody from an opera by Charles Kurpinski, and a kujawiak, a form of mazurka, thoroughly enjoyed by Chopin.  The first portion is made up of unrelated variations on the first two themes.  The songs are introduced in a simple lyrical fashion and then figuration patterns decorate them, an approach Chopin was to follow in his later concertos.  The final portion is a blaze of virtuosity....

The second of these works is the Krakowiak:  Grand Rondo in F Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 14 (1828).  The title refers to a moderately fast Polish dance in duple meter, characterized by syncopation on the weak beat or weak part of the beat.  This work seems more personal than the earlier two and is more focused, perhaps by the singular dance rhythm.  The orchestra is also slightly better integrated into the texture.'

[akonow]

Wow   Thanks for all that information, pianistimo!

[pianistimo]

you are welcome!

[thalbergmad]

'Chopin wrote two other works of this kind. 

Three if one includes the grand polonaise Op22.

All can be played solo, 2 pianos or with piano/orchestra.

Thal