Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann's Abegg Variations (the Variations on the name "Abegg" for piano, Op. 1), despite the implications of the attached opus number, were neither his first composition nor, truth be told, his first explorations of variation form: prior to completing Op.1 in 1830 he had composed no fewer than eight polonaises, six waltzes, an incomplete piano concerto, several youthful songs, a set of variations for piano four-hands, and various other, shorter pieces. And so when he sat down to compose a group of variations for Countess Pauline von Abegg, he was certainly no mere initiate at his craft, though it would indeed be years before he reached the summit of his genius. The "Abegg" Variations remain among the composer's most frequently played works owing, no doubt, to a relative lack of technical challenges. Although the theme is not his strongest, and the styles of Schumann's predecessors Carl Maria von Weber and Johann Hummel at times overshadow Schumann's rather insecure voice, the variations and Finale contain ample promise of the great things yet to come.

The material of the theme is derived from the last name of the work's dedicatee, Countess von Abegg: A- B flat-E-G-G (the letter "b" being equivalent in the German nomenclature to the pitch B flat). In later years Schumann would use such letter-to-pitch derivations with more panache as in Carnaval, or the later fugues on the name BACH. In the opening theme of the "Abegg" Variations, however, the clumsy, repetitive three-four rhythmic motive and routine accompaniment would seem to show little promise for variational potential.

Such a judgment is immediately proven incorrect, however, as the composer provides three straight variations (in the same key, F major, and tempo, Animato) of considerable breadth and ingenuity. A lyric interlude (Cantabile) of great beauty still derived from the same basic material but not given a variation number by the composer dissolves to make a transition directly into the exciting Finale alla Fantasia (Vivace).