Telemann Variations, Op. 134

- Composer: Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 1873 -- 11 May 1916) - Performer: Jorge Bolet (piano) - Year of recording: 1980 Variations and Fugue on a theme of Georg Philipp Telemann, Op. 134, written in 1914. 00:00 - Theme, Tempo di Minuetto 01:48 - Variation 1, L'istesso Tempo 02:36 - Variation 2, L'istesso Tempo 03:30 - Variation 3, L'istesso Tempo 04:16 - Variation 4, L'istesso Tempo 04:59 - Variation 5, Non troppo vivace 05:48 - Variation 6, Non troppo vivace 06:38 - Variation 7, quasi Tempo primo 07:30 - Variation 8, Tempo primo 08:07 - Variation 9, Non troppo vivace 09:08 - Variation 10, Quasi Adagio 10:36 - Variation 11, Quasi Adagio 12:14 - Variation 12, Poco vivace 13:00 - Variation 13, Tempo primo 13:37 - Variation 14, Meno vivace 14:38 - Variation 15, Andante 16:10 - Variation 16, Adagio 17:49 - Variation 17, Poco andante 19:18 - Variation 18, Tempo primo 20:03 - Variation 19, Poco vivace 20:55 - Variation 20, Poco vivace 21:55 - Variation 21, Vivace 22:42 - Variation 22, Vivace 23:43 - Variation 23, Poco Andante 26:07 - Fugue, Vivace con spirito By the time Reger came to write his Variations and Fugue on a theme of Georg Philipp Telemann in 1914, he had mastered the orchestra and gained more experience in variation form, principally with his orchestral ‘Hiller’ and ‘Mozart’ Variations. In fact, it might be said with some justification that the ‘Telemann’ Variations stand in relation to the ‘Bach’ Variations in the same way that the orchestral ‘Hillers’ relate to the ‘Mozarts’—the latter being generally more playful than the former. They are also considerably less chromatic than the ‘Bach’ Variations—lighter, purer, more transparent. There are also many more individual variations and a whole host of repeats, Bolet chose to skip most of the repeats in this recording. The theme itself is taken from a Suite for two oboes and strings that Telemann composed around 1733 as part of his Tafelmusik. Reger’s first statement of the theme immediately suggests parallels with Brahms, whereas the first four variations provide straightforward embellishments in a similar vein, whether regal (No 1), swirling (No 2), slipping (No 3, with staccato triplets) or dancing (No 4). The gigue-like fifth variation leads to octave triplets in No 6, Chopinesque cascades in No 7 and octave leaps in No 9. Variation 10 (Quasi adagio) marks a dramatic easing of pulse; No 11 picks up the tempo a little, and No 12 fires gunshot chords that scatter flurries of repeated notes. The thirteenth variation is elegant and lightly brushed; No 14 tucks sustained trills in among its already dense textures, and with No 17 we move to the shaded glades of B flat minor before madcap arpeggios (No 18) signal a return to the home key (in No 19) and a warming Poco vivace (No 21). The next two variations mark a return to pianistic athletics, but with No 23 we reach a majestic, richly harmonized chorale-style melody and a desolate bridge to the closing Fugue—more playf