Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/29/2016, uploaded on 01/28/2017

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Mozart chose to write this set of piano variations in honor of his friend, Christophe Willibald Gluck (1714-1787). In fact, as the story is told, Mozart improvised the work during one of his concerts that was attended by Gluck in 1783 and set it to paper a year later. The theme used in this delicious set comes from Gluck’s comic opera Die Pilgrimme von Mekka of 1764. The theme is simple and yet delightfully pretentious, with two phrases, or parts, and it comes from a buffoonish moment in the opera as the selfish and greedy Kalender Monk reflects upon the idiotic perceptions of the “Der dummer Pöbel” (the stupid man in the streets) regarding his diet. As only such a master as Mozart could create, the piece is wonderfully paced, balancing virtuosity, wittiness and sheer brilliance. In a day and age when variations and improvisation were quite the rage among Viennese audiences, Mozart was clearly one of its greatest creators.    

Notes by Max Derrickson

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.