Giovanni Paisiello, a successful opera composer, was celebrated by Catherine the Great, invited to Paris by Napoleon, and admired by Mozart.
Composition History
Beethoven's 6 Variations on an original theme in F major, Op 34, and 15 Variations and a fugue, Op 35, were among the first works he composed in Heiligenstadt, where he sought refuge from increasing deafness.
Composer Biography
Beethoven, the composer, did not recognize his own 32 Variations on an original theme in C minor, WoO80, when a friend played it at the end of his life.
Composition History
The theme for Beethoven's 15 Variations and a fugue, Op 35, also known as the 'Eroica' variations, was previously used in his contredanses and the finale of his ballet The Creatures of Prometheus.
Recording & Production
Angela Hewitt's Fazioli F2781009 piano, used for many of her Hyperion recordings, was accidentally dropped by movers after these recording sessions, leading to its untimely end.
Composition History
Beethoven wrote variations on 'God save the King' and 'Rule, Britannia' after being approached by George Thomson, a civil servant collecting Scottish folk songs, in 1803.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven, the composer, expressed excitement about the 'quite new' manner of his Op 34 and Op 35 variations, noting he usually needed others to tell him when he had new ideas.
