One of Beethoven’s most important patrons was Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein, who had arrived in Bonn in 1788. An amateur composer and capable pianist himself, Waldstein helped Beethoven with friendship, encouragement, important social connections, and money.
Sometime before he left for Vienna, Beethoven wrote a set of eight variations for piano four hands based on a theme that Count Waldstein himself provided.
Did Beethoven write it for four hands so that Waldstein could play it with him? Nice way to bond with your patron, dude!
#Beethoven250 Day 32
Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein for Piano Four Hands (WoO 67), 1792?
Ukrainian pianists Angela Fandeeva and Natalia Borysenko have much fun with these eight variations based on a theme by Count Waldstein.
#Beethoven250 Day 32
Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein for Piano Four Hands (WoO 67), 1792?
Kwon Hyun Kyung and Park Yong Sun play the Waldstein Variations at a Piano and Alumni Concert at the Ewha Woman’s University in South Korea.
#Beethoven250 Day 32
Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein for Piano Four Hands (WoO 67), 1792?
Ninowska Fernández-Britto and Rebeca Lluveras play the Waldstein Variations at a classical music festival in Mexico City.
#Beethoven250 Day 32
Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein for Piano Four Hands (WoO 67), 1792?
The Waldstein Variations can also be performed on a big stage, as demonstrated by the famous Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen (@JussenOfficial).
#Beethoven250 Day 32
Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein for Piano Four Hands (WoO 67), 1792?
Heli Kantola & Anna Maria McElwain make a compelling argument for playing the Waldstein Variations on a clavichord at an Historical Keyboard Festival in Finland.
On the verge of Beethoven’s departure to Vienna to study composition with Haydn, Count Waldstein wrote to Beethoven “The Genius of Mozart is mourning and weeping over the death of her pupil… With the help of assiduous labor you shall receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s hands.”
On 2 November 1792, six weeks short of his 22nd birthday, Beethoven began the 8-day 900-mile trek from Bonn to Vienna. His original plan was to hone his compositional skills and then come back to Bonn to be Kapellmeister like his beloved grandfather.
He never returned.