At A Glance
Johannes Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn is based on the “Chorale St. Antoni,” an 18th-century wind-band movement with disputed origins. Brahms takes it through eight wonderfully inventive transformations before an elaborate finale on a ground bass.
The title of Anders Hillborg’s Piano Concerto No. 2, The MAX Concerto is a riff on the name of its inaugural soloist, Emanuel “Manny” Ax. Its contrasting sections evoke different styles of piano playing—“Grand Piano,” “Toy Piano,” “Hard Piano,” “Ascending Piano,” and more.
In his Symphony No. 2, Ludwig van Beethoven hadn’t moved far beyond the model of his teacher, Haydn, but the strength of his voice is still unmistakable. His later symphonies get all the glory, but at least one commen- tator found the Second “the most interesting of the nine.”
The title of Anders Hillborg’s Piano Concerto No. 2, The MAX Concerto is a riff on the name of its inaugural soloist, Emanuel “Manny” Ax. Its contrasting sections evoke different styles of piano playing—“Grand Piano,” “Toy Piano,” “Hard Piano,” “Ascending Piano,” and more.
In his Symphony No. 2, Ludwig van Beethoven hadn’t moved far beyond the model of his teacher, Haydn, but the strength of his voice is still unmistakable. His later symphonies get all the glory, but at least one commen- tator found the Second “the most interesting of the nine.”
