Ludwig van Beethoven:
Variations and Fugue in E-flat major ("Eroica Variations"), Op. 35 (with Score)
Composed: 1802
Piano: Emil Gilels
00:00 Introduction. Allegro vivace (E♭ major)
03:05 Theme (E♭ major)
03:47 Variation 1
04:25 Variation 2
05:16 Variation 3
05:55 Variation 4
06:27 Variation 5
07:21 Variation 6
07:54 Variation 7. Canone all'ottava
08:32 Variation 8
09:34 Variation 9
10:13 Variation 10
10:50 Variation 11
11:35 Variation 12
12:15 Variation 13
13:00 Variation 14 (minore)
14:44 Variation 15. Largo (maggiore) - attacca Coda
19:38 Finale (alla Fuga). Allegro con brio
Often referred to as the "Eroica Variations," Beethoven's 15 Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, Op. 35 (1802) might more aptly be called the "Prometheus Variations." The theme upon which the variations are based was first heard by the public in the finale of Beethoven's ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 (1800-01), and it also appears as the seventh of his 12 Contredanses, WoO 14 (1800-02); still later, and most prominently of all, it plays a central role in the finale of the Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica"), Op. 55 (1803). As the composer indicated in a letter to the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel, the variations are "written in quite a new style and...in an entirely different way."
Beethoven was almost certainly alluding to the overall layout of the set. First, the theme's bass line appears alone, and then in a series of introductory variations of two, three, and four voices. By beginning with this basso del tema Beethoven emphasizes its comic aspects, especially the three fortissimo octaves in its second half. When the actual theme finally appears, together with the bass, three variations have already unfolded; it is only at this point, however, that Beethoven commences "counting" the variations. Though the final fugue opens with a subject derived from the basso del tema, by its close it reasserts the prominence of the main theme. Beethoven's compositional technique here is markedly more sophisticated than in his earlier essays in the genre; still, the harmonic scheme never ventures far afield from the prevailing E flat major tonality. The relative minor (C minor) emerges in No. 6, the parallel minor (E flat minor) in No. 14, and most refreshingly, the major mediant (G major) at the close of No. 15. The most striking feature of the Variations is the infusion of fugues, canons, ground basses and other characteristically Baroque elements into a work firmly grounded in the high Classical style. The particular importance Beethoven grants the bass line anticipates the precedence of harmonic progressions over melodic material in one of the most monumental accomplishments in the theme-and-variations genre, the 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120 (1819-23).