During 1795, Beethoven composed four sets of variations for piano. All are based on tunes from theatrical compositions that have since slipped through the historical cracks between the piano keys, and which are remembered today only by Beethoven’s use of them.
Beethoven’s WoO 68 consists of 12 variations and a short Adagio coda based on a “Menuett à la Vigano” from a 1795 ballet score with the intriguing title Le Nozze disturbate (“The Disturbed Wedding”) by Jakob Haibel, an Austrian composer roughly contemporaneous with Beethoven.
#Beethoven250 Day 58
Variations on “Menuett à la Viganò” from Haibel’s “Le nozze disturbate” (WoO 68), 1795
German pianist and teacher Heinz Lengersdorf interpolates many tempo changes into Beethoven’s score to great effect.