Variations in C major on ‘God save the King’ for Piano WoO 78 (1803)
There is no obvious reason why a German composer residing in Vienna should decide to write a riff on the British national anthem and another on an associated jingoistic tune. Was Ludwig van Beethoven an English spy? Did he eat chips with his fish and drink his beer warm? Not so far as we know. He did once concede that the English had the best national anthem, but he might have meant it in the same way as we say the Devil has the best tunes.
In any event he was not the first to be drawn to the anthem and decorate it with classical variations. He probably knew of a set of God Save the Kings variations by Forkel, Johann Sebastian Bach’s first biographer, published in 1791, and certainly came across the variations written by Johann Christian Bach in 1763 in the finale of his sixth harpsichord concerto. At that time, the tune was pretty much fresh off the presses. It had only come into popular usage as a national anthem in 1745, following the crushing of the Jacobite Rebellion.
Beethoven wrote his God Save the King set in 1803 and offered it together with his ‘Rule, Britannia’ variations to his Edinburgh publisher, George Thomson, in October that year. Before long, it was published in London by Muzio Clementi, who incorporated the theme in his own G-major symphony. Anyone could whistle the tune and it contained enough musical wriggle-room for good composers to weave variations.
Despite the rich revenues it generated for publishers, the popularity of Beethoven’s composition faded and is missed the cut for inclusion in the final catalogue of his works, hence the WithoutOpus number attached. In modern times it is seldom performed in major halls and has been commerically recorded no more than two dozen times, which I find a little surprising. Most of the extant recordings are by pianosts of little renown.
Among the mainstream, Alfred Brendel’s 1960s Vienna set held its own for half a century, played with that slight stiffness that is appropriate to courtiers when royalty is in attendance. Despite an unappealing studio ambience, Brendel’s performance is demonstrative in its fidelity and neutrality. He never gives a hint of loyalities, singular or divided.
No less neutral but markedly more relaxed is Rudolf Buchbinder, a younger Austrian of unfailing discretion and elegance. Buchbinder plays the anthem as if he’s completely unaware of its words or national connotations, focussing on phrasing, dynamics and beauty as if he were giving a masterclass in Graz, or Heiligenstadt.
Among the few English pianists to address the set is the tragic figure of John Ogdon (1937-1989). Ogdon shared first prize at the 1962 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition with Vladimir Ashkenazy and would have enjoyed an extraordinary career were it not for the combined effects of an overburdened concert schedule and the onset of mental illness.
His decline has been recorded in several books and television documentaries, and he is by no means forgotten. His college contemporary Harrison Birtwistle told me that ‘John could play anything on sight, accurately at first and then with improvisations that he made up on the spot.’ He played a lot of esoteric stuff by Sorabji, Hoddinott and Medtner but Beethoven was at the heart of his practise and he left some memorable recordings on EMI.
In the God Save the King variations, Ogdon dispenses with stuffiness and searches for tender moments in the third and fourth variations. Giant of a man that he was, you could hardly wish for a softer touch at the keyboard or a simpler way of storytelling. I am dumbfounded by the beauties he uncovers where others merely play what’s put before them. His gift was unparallelled.
Variations in D major on ‘Rule Britannia’ for Piano WoO 79
This rousing exhortation was first heard in Alfred, a masque by Thomas Arne about Alfred the Great, the king who burned the cakes. It was performed to celebrate the accession of George II, with the aim of underlining this German ruler’s patriotic credentials, and it obtained popular appeal in 1745, at the same time as God Save the King was established as the national hymn. Beethoven found it musically less fertile and wrote half-length variations, although the tune returned to him unprompted with he was composing his Piano Sonata No. 24, Op. 78, “À Thérèse”. You will find it there in the second movement.
John Ogdon takes it slower than most but seems to lose interest as he goes. Brendel is jollier, wittier by half. The Dutch fortepianist Ronald Brautigam conjures up the spirit of the times on a period instrument. In the fourth variation, he intimates hints of Chopin. No-one gives it the full Last Night treatment (pictured below).
Variations in B flat major on ‘La stessa, la stessissima’ by Antonio Salieri for Piano WoO 73
Any composer in 1790s Vienna had to doff his cap to the court-appointed Salieri who controlled much of the musical patronage in the town. Beethoven paid homage with a set of variations that, like Mozart before him, showed up Salieri for a feeble note-spinner who lacked the nous to develop the potential that lay within his own flimsy themes. Beethoven’s contribution is so esoteric that hardly anyone plays or records it – apart from the compendious Brendel, Ogdon and Brautigam.
The version I like best is by Plamena Mangova, a Bulgarian pianist of phenomenal technique and exquisite good taste. This set was recorded in 2007, the year she came second in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. It shows her to be an artist capable of finding gold where other just see dross – rather as Mozart and Beethoven did with Salieri. (I would also give a spin to Gianluca Cascioli, who channels Salieri’s inner Italian in charming and unexpected ways.)
This is the theme song of the best thing on television this year, the second series of Denmark TV’s Ride Upon the Storm, in which a priest and his family process grief and guilt, love and duty.
From the makers of Borgen. Best thing out of Denmark since breakfast.
Don’t miss it.
Barrie Kosky and Alma Sadé present Yiddish operetta songs on the empty stage of the Komische Oper Berlin.
A virus? Nur mitzves.
The diva, in her latest Instagram message:
I think it’s time to raise questions??? … sports, art, music- what is happening with us and who is responsible for all this mess?!!?? …Я думаю, настало время задавать вопросы….?? Спортсмены, музыканты, актёры… что с нами будет? И кто в ответе за этот бред?!?
Who, indeed?
In an instagram chat with Yusif Eyvazov, the St Petersburg conductor pledged full financial support for staff and freelance artists alike.
This is what he wrote when Barbara showed him the pictures:
Gnarled olive trees and the ageing human body: two facets of nature that show the glories of creation in their stark reality of withering maturity. They are visual life histories of nature and humanity in their inevitable but beauteous decline. Barbara Luisi is possessed of the talent and insight to show the glorious but sinewy and tough reality of longevity itself. They document the scars of experience. Free from any cosmetic make-over and touched by the harsh beauty of grainy naturalism, her pictures show us as we are and nature as it is. They also show us what we might become and how we will be seen when the final curtain falls, as it always does! PJ 14 th January 2019.
The Ruhrtriennale, due to take place from August 14 to September 20, was called off today due to Coronavirus.
The Salzburg Festival has yet to declare its hand.
press statement:
‘The failure of the Ruhrtriennale 2020 is a bitter loss for cultural life in North Rhine-Westphalia, which also hurts me personally. But I am firmly convinced that large events such as the Ruhrtriennale in this situation must take on a special responsibility. The protection of the health of the public, artists and employees is our top priority. Therefore, a cancellation of the Ruhrtriennale 2020 is inevitable,’ said Minister of Culture and Science Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, chair of the supervisory board of Kultur Ruhr GmbH.
The former head of English National Opera and Bavarian State Opera died last night in Munich at the age of 73.
Peter had his first bout with cancer at 25 and struggled with it throughout his life. It gave him a sense of proportion and gratitude that endeared him to everyone. Few opera chiefs have spent more time encouraging young singers and helping them along their way.
He was, deep down, a solitary soul. On a BBC Lebrecht Interview he talked to me about being sent away to an English boarding school at five years old, about his long-distance marriage to the marvellous Slovakian soprano Lucia Popp and about their conciliation at the end of her life.
He was a loving man, much loved.
After working as artistic administrator with Sir Georg Solti at the Chicago Symphony, Peter led a powerhouse revolution at English National Opera from 1985 to 1993, before becoming Intendant at Bavarian State Opera until his retirement in 2006.
I have an abiding image of him sitting happily in his office, a short walk from the English Gardens and, as he would say, just 20 minutes away from the ski slopes.
In retirement, he walked across Europe, north to south. And more than once.
UPDATE: Statement from Bavarian State Opera:
“The world of music and opera has lost a great man in Sir Peter Jonas. Over the decades, he has shaped music theatre and concert life with courage, originality, energy and an irrepressible appetite for risk,” says General Manager Nikolaus Bachler. “The Bayerische Staatsoper was shaped by the London-born in a unique way, completely redefining its audience’s feeling and understanding of music theatre and positioning this art form far beyond Munich in 21st century society. Thus Sir Peter Jonas was fortunate for Munich – with English humour, which often touched on the absurd and British coolness, the ‚cinema fan’, who was open to everything visual, created a new view of the art of opera here. Since the Jonas era, the audience in Munich has been listening (also) with their eyes. We will miss him and remember him with gratitude – all over the world and especially in Munich.”
ENO tweets: Everyone at ENO is extremely sad to learn that Sir Peter Jonas, CEO from 1985 to 1993, has passed away. Sir Peter was one of the fundamental bedrocks of ENO’s success in the 80s, and his legacy as CEO will echo down the generations for years to come.
The Secretary of State for Cultural Affairs in the Austrian Government Ulrike Lunacek was taken to hospital with minor injuries on Tuesday after hitting her head on a Vienna pavement when falling off her bike.
Lunacek, 62, was sent home with painkillers and told to rest for a few days.
She was wearing a helmet.
As a member of the Green Party, she expects to be back on her bike before long.
The German baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle, Beckmesser at the 2017 Bayreuth, is running a list onhis Facebook page of how theatres and opera houses have been honouring their singer contracts during Coronavirus, and how not.
The best performers, with 100 percent payment for all conracts, include Aachen, Aarhus, Basel, Copenhagen, ENO… all the way through to Zurich.
The median payment appears to be between 50 and 60 percent.
The poorest payers include Paris, Lyon, Brussels and Covent Garden.
The Jewish Chronicle, ‘organ of Anglo-Jewry’ (est. 1741), which has been in the hands of liquidators for the past three weeks, has been bought out by a consortium of well-intentioned investors after the collapse of a proposed merger with a Jewish freesheet.
The editor, Stephen Pollard, has been restored to his green eyeshade. The birds outside are singing klezmer.
Personal interest: I am writing a Pepsyian plague column in the JC for the duration of Covid-19.
Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre in London, went on the BBC’s Today programme this morning to give voice for the first time to a growing consensus in the performing arts sector.
He said that, while the NT was ready and able to return to rehearsal in July for a September reopening, he could not personally imagine a situation where the authorities would consent to 1,000 people being crammed into a room for three hours at end.
His fallback position was to reopen in January 2021. And he added that there was a third line of strategy for postponing the reopening even beyond that. He added that the financial implications for the theatre were catastrophic.
His prognosis might sound gloomy, but it was totally honest and quite unlike the equivocations we have been hearing from the managers of concert halls and opera houses.
January is starting to look like a best-case scenario.
UPDATE: In a parallel interview with Variety, Norris said: ‘Every organization like ours is running numerous scenarios…The one thing that you just can’t afford to do at the moment is rest on optimism,” said Norris.
