''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

, incorporating 83 variations for

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

on a

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in two parts in 1823 and 1824, by firms headed by Diabelli. It includes

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's ''

Diabelli Variations The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. It for ...

'', Op. 120 (a set of 33 variations), as well as single variations from 50 other composers including

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; ; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works an ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri, and ...

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano in the Co ...

Friedrich Kalkbrenner Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner (7 November 1785 – 10 June 1849), also known as ''Frédéric Kalkbrenner'', was a pianist, composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer. German by birth, Kalkbrenner studied at the Conservatoire de Paris ...

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

(aged only 12 at the time of publication), and a host of lesser-known names including

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (26 July 1791 – 29 July 1844), also known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Jr., was the youngest child of six born to composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze Mozart, Constanze and the younger of his parents ...

and others now largely forgotten. The term has various translations, including "Patriotic Artists' Association", "Art Association of the Fatherland",Paul F. Zweifel
/ref> "Patriotic Culture Club", "Fatherland's Society of Artists", "National Artists' Association", "Native Artist's Association" and "Native Society of Artists".
/ref>

Background

In 1819,"''Diabelli Variations'', Op. 120 • Variations on ‘God Save the King’, WoO 78 • Variations on ‘Rule Britannia’, WoO 79"
liner notes by Keith Anderson, Naxos Records, Cat. no. 8.554372 (July 1998) the Viennese publishing house of Cappi & Diabelli invited a number of Austrian composers to contribute one variation each for the piano, on a theme written by

himself, one of the principals of the firm. Diabelli's theme is usually described as a

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

, but in form it has more of the character of a

Ländler The Ländler () is a European folk dance in time. Along with the waltz and allemande, the ländler was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Despite its associa ...

was asked to also provide a coda as a suitable way of rounding out the collection.

exceeded his brief by writing no less than 33 variations, and entered into negotiations with Diabelli to have his set published separately from the others. Beethoven's first biographer,

Anton Schindler Anton Felix Schindler (13 June 1795 – 16 January 1864) was an Austrian law clerk and associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Schindler was born on 13 June 1795 in Medlov. He moved to Vienna in 1813 to study l ...

, wrote that the project was first devised in the winter of 1822–23, but this is an error, as Czerny's manuscript is dated 7 May 1819 and

's variation is known to have been written in March 1821. Czerny's was the earliest variation to be written and, as he also wrote the coda, it is likely that Diabelli involved him in the project from the very beginning. It is also likely that the invitations were sent not long before Czerny's contributions were written (May 1819), but certainly no later. It is not known exactly what lay behind this project, other than perhaps a simple act of self-promotion, either for the firm or for Diabelli himself. The combined contributions were published as ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'', in two parts. Part I was published by Cappi & Diabelli in June 1823, and consisted of Beethoven's 33 variations (now known as the ''

'', Op. 120), with a dedication to Antonie Brentano. By the time the second part was published, the two principals, Diabelli and Pietro Cappi had parted company, and Diabelli had joined with Anton Spina and renamed the firm Diabelli & Co. Part II was published in late 1823 or early 1824 by Diabelli & Co., and includes the other 50 variations and Czerny's coda. It is also not known how many composers were approached, but 51 responded to the invitation. Some well-known names such as

Ignaz von Seyfried Ignaz Xaver Ritter von Seyfried (15 August 1776 – 27 August 1841) was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer. He was born and died in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus Moz ...

and

Joseph Weigl Joseph Weigl (28 March 1766 – 3 February 1846) was an Austrian composer and conductor, born in Eisenstadt, Hungary, Austrian Empire. The son of Joseph Franz Weigl (1740–1820), the principal cellist in the orchestra of the Esterházy fa ...

do not appear. Whether they were not interested in participating or whether they were not even approached is not known. Apart from Beethoven's 33 variations, 48 of the other 50 composers wrote only the one variation they were asked for.

and Gottfried Rieger wrote two variations each, but only one from each of them was originally published.''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'', 5th ed. 1954, vol. VIII, pp. 690–692,

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Earl ...

, ed.

Part I, by Beethoven

's ''

'', his last major piano work, is part of the keyboard music canon and is by far the better known volume. It is frequently performed and recorded to this day.

Part II, by various composers

The composers of Part II include some names still notable today, but most of them have been forgotten. The

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

were numbered in strictly alphabetical order according to the then current spelling conventions. The full list follows: :''Note:'' Some of the composers gave no tempo indication, and they can be assumed to be played ''Vivace'', as in the original theme.

Recordings and performances

Beethoven's ''

'' have been recorded and performed many times. The remainder of ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' has received very little attention since its publication. The complete set has been recorded by

Rudolf Buchbinder Rudolf Buchbinder (born 1 December 1946, Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia) is an Austrian classical pianist. Biography Buchbinder studied with Bruno Seidlhofer at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1965, he made a tour of North and South Americas. In ...

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; ; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won sev ...

has performed excerpts in concert."Martha Argerich Recordings"
argerich.jp

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaterlandischer Kunstlerverein Collaborations in classical music Compositions for solo piano Compositions in C major Variations Piano variations by Ludwig van Beethoven Compositions by Carl Czerny Compositions by Johann Nepomuk Hummel Compositions by Franz Liszt Piano music by Franz Schubert 1819 compositions 1823 compositions 1824 compositions