Variations On A Theme By Anton Bruckner
for Piano
by Lowell Liebermann
Chamber Music - Sheet Music

Chamber Music Piano

SKU: PR.410412750

For Piano. Composed by Lowell Liebermann. Premiered by Erika Nickrenz on June 3, 1987 at the Dock Street Theater for the Spoleto Festival U.S.A Charleston, South Carolina. Classical. Solo part. With Standard notation. Opus 19. Duration 13 minutes, 30 seconds. Theodore Presser Company #410-41275. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.410412750).

UPC: 680160086825.

Eight variations (13½ min.) on Bruckner's AEQUALI for 3 trombones (1847). Premiered by Erika Nickrenz at the Charleston Spoleto Festival last June. "...the many variations of the dark, brooding theme were colorful" -Charleston Evening Post. For college, conservatory, professional. Difficult.
The idea for writing the Variations on a Theme by Anton Bruckner Op. 19 goes as far back as 1982, when I came across the Bruckner theme in an old biography of the composer.  Written in 1847 and entitled “Aequali,” the theme was originally a liturgical processional for three trombones.  It is notable for its sliding chromaticism and, rare for Bruckner, the asymmetric phrasing at the end.  At the time I found the theme, a few sketches for variations were written and then put aside.  It was not until 1986, when pianist Erika Nickrenz asked for a new work, that I reexamined the long-dormant sketches and finally completed the piece.  (Of those early sketches, the only ones retained are now the opening of the third variation and the closing measures of the work).  Ms. Nickrenz gave the work its world premiere at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina in 1987.The Variations utilize the melody of the theme in various permutations, embellishments and fragmentations.  Of particular interest are: the seventh variation, whose lyrical melody is, note for note, the theme backwards; and the final variation, which incorporates references to the first movement of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, a work which has always held special meaning for me.  It should also be noted that the tonal sequence of the variations is determined by the harmonic progression of the theme, a formal procedure I first used in my Symphony Op. 9.The Variations on a Theme by Anton Bruckner have been recorded by David Korevaar on the Musical Heritage Society label.