Variations and Fugue on a theme of Beethoven

One of Reger’s greatest orchestral works grew out of a set of variations for two pianos composed in 1904, based on Beethoven’s final Bagatelle, Op. 119, No. 11. The original work was something of a party piece for the composer as pianist who performed it 132 times, including at his final recital. The composer never lived to hear his orchestral version, which was premiered at a memorial concert in Vienna in 1916. Garnering experience from his earlier variations on classical themes by Hiller and Mozart, Reger turned to the Beethoven hoping this was a staging post towards the symphony that would always elude him. The Beethoven theme is presented in its simple hummable form, before being presented in a sequence of eight variations in which the melody is developed and broken into small motivic particles with virtuosic craftsmanship and orchestration. Even more formidable is the closing fugue which is a thrilling contrapuntal tour-de-force.