Beethoven - Variations on an original theme in D Major (Turkish March) op. 76

[rachmanny]

Hope you all enjoy!

[birba]

Thanks for posting.  I haven't heard this in a long time.  Nice tone.  Solid fingers.
What's missing here is a tempo that breathes.  I'm not talking about a metronomic speed.  I'm talking about a give and take, a leeway in the tempo.  It sounds at times like you're playing with a metronome. There are times throughout these variations when you need to breathe, when you have to create a push and pull in the beat.  As it is, i get no musical picture.  A movement, a design.  It's difficult to explain in words.  Because there IS rhythm in your playing.  But it's a metronomic rhythm.  Not a pulsating one.
At any rate, it was excellent playing and i enjoyed it!

[rachmanny]

Thanks for your input Birba. I actually decided to be more strict on the tempo as a result of reflecting on my previous performance of these variations. Even though Beethoven didn't call it a march at the time he composed it, I felt the strictness suited this work well. The two places where I feel there can be more rubato would be in the 3rd and 5th variations, which are slightly more lyrical than the rest.