Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel
Piano composition by Johannes Brahms / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, is a work for solo piano written by Johannes Brahms in 1861. It consists of a set of twenty-five variations and a concluding fugue, all based on a theme from George Frideric Handel's Harpsichord Suite No. 1 in B♭ major, HWV 434. They are known as his Handel Variations.
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel | |
---|---|
Piano variations by Johannes Brahms | |
Other name | Handel Variations |
Opus | 24 |
Composed | 1861 (1861) |
Dedication | Clara Schumann |
Performed | 7 December 1861 (1861-12-07): Hamburg |
The music writer Donald Tovey has ranked it among "the half-dozen greatest sets of variations ever written".[1] Biographer Jan Swafford describes the Handel Variations as "perhaps the finest set of piano variations since Beethoven", adding, "Besides a masterful unfolding of ideas concluding with an exuberant fugue with a finish designed to bring down the house, the work is quintessentially Brahms in other ways: the filler of traditional forms with fresh energy and imagination; the historical eclectic able to start off with a gallant little tune of Handel's, Baroque ornaments and all, and integrate it seamlessly into his own voice, in a work of massive scope and dazzling variety."[2]