Diversions for piano (left hand) and orchestra is a concertante music composition by Benjamin Britten. Edward Benjamin Britten Baron Britten, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976 was an English Composer, conductor, Britten wrote the work for the Viennese-born pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I. A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra Paul Wittgenstein ( May 11, 1887 &ndash March 3, 1961) was an Austrian born Pianist. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Britten met Wittgenstein in New York in July and sketched the piece in August of 1940 at Owl's Head, Maine. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Although Wittgenstein complained about the orchestration, Britten declined to make any changes. [citation needed] In spite of this situation, Wittegenstein retained the performing rights for a good number of years, which kept other pianists from performing the work. [1]
Wittgenstein played the premiere of the Diversion with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Ormandy on 16 January 1942. The Philadelphia Orchestra is an Orchestra based in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, in the United States. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Eugene Ormandy ( November 18, 1899 &ndash March The Philadelphia reviewers at the time of the premiere commented more on Wittgenstein and his work as a one-armed pianist more than the composition itself. The Philadelphia Record did describe the score as "ingeniously written", whilst Musical America commented on the presence of both "pleasurable and dull moments" in the work. [2]
The piece is in the form of a set of 11 variations on a theme:
- Theme
- Variation I, Recitative
- Variation II, Romance
- Variation III, March
- Variation IV, Rubato
- Variation V, Chorale
- Variation VI, Nocturne
- Variation VII, Badinerie
- Variation VIII, Ritmico
- Variation IXa, Toccata I
- Variation IXb, Toccata II
- Variation X, Adagio
- Variation XI, Tarantella
Britten utilised music that he wrote for a production of J. B. Priestley's Johnson over Jordan as source material for the work. John Boynton Priestley, OM ( 13 September, 1894 &ndash 14 August, 1984) was an English Writer and broadcaster [3] Lyn Henderson has noted the influence of Prokofiev-like rhythms in Variation IXa. [4] Christopher Mark has discussed Britten's use of the "circle of fifths" in various works, including the Diversions. [5]
Recordings
- Decca LXT 2981 (original LP): Julius Katchen, pianist; London Symphony Orchestra; Benjamin Britten, conductor[6]
- Desto Records DC-7168 (original LP): Leon Fleisher, pianist; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Sergiu Comissiona, conductor
- EMI Classics: Peter Donohoe, pianist; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Sir Simon Rattle, conductor
References
- ^ Thackeray, Ruth (1978). Julius Katchen ( August 15, 1926 &ndash April 29, 1969) was an American concert Pianist, possibly best known for his recordings The London Symphony Orchestra ( LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928) is an American pianist and conductor. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ( BSO) is a major American Symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Sergiu Comissiona ( 16 June 1928 &ndash March Peter Donohoe (born 18 June, 1953) is an English Pianist. Born in Manchester, he studied with Derek Wyndham at the The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE, FRSA, (born January "Music in London: Orchestral". The Musical Times 119 (1629): 975–977.
- ^ Robinson, Suzanne (1997). ""An English Composer Sees America": Benjamin Britten and the North American Press, 1939-42". American Music 15 (3): 321–351. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.
- ^ Salter, Lionel (1994). "Book Reviews". The Musical Times 119 (2): 268–297.
- ^ Henderson, Lyn (January 1987). "His Influence on Britten: The Vital Prokofiev". The Musical Times 128 (1727): 24–25.
- ^ Mark, Christopher (1994). "Britten and the Circle of Fifths". Journal of the Royal Musical Association 119 (2): 268–297. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.
- ^ Thomson, Eric (1955). "Record Guide". Tempo (New Ser. ) 36: 35.
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