Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Variations anf finale, Op.115, on a theme from 'Das Fest der Handwerker'

Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Variations and Finale in B flat major, Op.115, on a theme from the Berlin Singspiel (German popular comic opera), Das Fest der Handwerker (The Craftsman's Festival). Performers: Christopher Hinterhuber, piano, Gavle Symphony Orchestra, Uwe Grodd (conductor)
1.Larghetto - 00:00 ---
2.Allegretto -Larghetto – 02:07 ---
3.Finale. Vivace – 11:44

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 – 17 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.
Hummel was born in Pressburg, Kingdom of Hungary, then a part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy (now Bratislava in Slovakia).
Johann Nepomuk Hummel remained one of Europe's most celebrated virtuosi until the early 1830s. There were lengthy periods, however, when he did not perform in public and it was really his return to the concert platform in 1814 that laid the foundations for his immense popularity during the next ten to fifteen years of his life. His longevity as a performer owed as much to his vigour and resourcefulness as a composer as it did to his formidable technique as a pianist. Hummel's receptiveness to new musical trends and his ability to develop and exploit them was fundamental to his success as an artist. Hummel's improvisatory powers were exceptional and improvisations formed an important component in his concerts.
The Variations and Finale in B flat, Op. 115, illustrate the vitality of Hummel's musical imagination at the height of his career. The work is arguably the more interesting, not because the variations themselves are intrinsically better but rather in the way in which Hummel treats the music of another composer in one of his own works.
The work is introduced by a lovely 6/8 Larghetto which is unrelated to the ensuing theme and variations. The theme itself, a perky little tune from the Berlin Local-Singspiel ‘Das Fest der Handwerker’, is a simple, symmetrical binary construction in 3/4 with repeats. Hummel's variations are far more fluid in their construction, eschewing the obvious binary structure of the theme in order to allow a more extensive exploration of its elaborations. Some variations are linked; others are separated by brief orchestral interludes.

classical music,Johann Nepomuk Hummel,Variations op 115,piano,Christopher Hinterhuber,