# Varieties of Variations of Paganini's Pagan Capricious Capricies



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Which do you prefer, good sir?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I don't know the Brahms or Liszt and I dislike the Rachmaninov. Perhaps the Lutoslawski (not in the poll) would have been my favourite.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Enthusiast said:


> I don't know the Brahms or Liszt and I dislike the Rachmaninov. Perhaps the Lutoslawski (not in the poll) would have been my favourite.


Such infernal clanging and banging before I have never witnessed!


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

Brahms' is a perfect work in such form in general. Rachmaninov's has some highly memorable tunes, but it includes materials that are not closely related to the subject.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I don't know the Liszt piece. So this is probably the one time in eternity that I prefer Rachmaninov to Brahms. I prefer the formers Paganini Rhapsody to all his regular concertos and the Brahms is one of few pieces of the composer I don't care for. It seems Brahms in his Lisztian supervirtuoso mode, I prefer all other of his piano variations to the Paganinis.

However, I'd rather go for Lutoslawski for piano and Blacher for orchestra, both extremely fun pieces.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

Kreisler jr said:


> It seems Brahms in his Lisztian supervirtuoso mode, I prefer all other of his piano variations to the Paganinis.


I agree that even the more obscure sets such as opp. 9, 21 and 23 incorporate the usual Brahmsian qualities more than this set. Of course there are some very good Brahmsian moments in this set as well (thus it gets my vote here) but I don`t know why Brahms initially decided to go with this theme which is very unlike him.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

This is pure speculation on my part and the piece is too late but I thought before that the young Brahms DID have a Lisztian virtuoso strain that shows in a few other pieces as well such as the scherzo op.4. This seems inspired by Chopin but Brahms claimed that he did not know Chopins scherzi when he wrote it.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Bruckner Anton said:


> Brahms' is a perfect work in such form in general. Rachmaninov's has some highly memorable tunes, *but it includes materials that are not closely related to the subject*.


Really? What variation(s) do you mean? The most famous tune sounds nothing like the theme, until one realizes it's an inversion of it. Rachmaninoff was enormously skilled at the art of variation. It comes through in his other sets of variations and in all of his major works.


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## Marcos (May 3, 2021)

Couchie said:


> Such infernal clanging and banging before I have never witnessed!


This is a great piece. I love the image of Lutoslawski bashing it out in Warsaw cafes to make some money. He later reworked it for piano and orchestra, but that version is much more serious and less fun.


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## Marcos (May 3, 2021)

Dare I mention Andrew Lloyd Weber...!






...or Gregor Piatigorsky - better known as a cellist but this a charming piece:






Maybe this poll should be redone with more pieces.


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## Parley (May 29, 2021)

Rachmaninov but that doesn't mean I dislike the others. I think they're all great


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