The 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, op. 120, are universally considered among the pinnacles of Ludwig van Beethoven’s pianistic art and compositional mastery. In this work, at least as important as Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Beethoven elevates the treatment of the variation itself, venturing into new expressive and harmonic domains.
Artur Schnabel, primarily known as a pianist, is considered one of the most important interpreters of Beethoven who ever lived. The Diabelli Variations always remained a staple in his repertoire.
Since the 1940s, Artur Schnabel himself, but also his son Karl Ulrich and daughter-in-law Helen Schnabel have cultivated a long collaboration with Edizioni Curci, from the first publication of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas to subsequent works, which soon became a reference for piano students and teachers around the world.
This tradition is now renewed with the publication of the present volume, produced in three languages (Italian, English, German), thanks to the collaboration with the Schnabel Music Foundation. The teamwork allowed to identify the sources and working materials Artur Schnabel used for his original edition of the Diabelli Variations for Ullstein, Berlin, in 1924. The correspondence between the editor and the owners of Beethoven’s autographs offered additional insight. An extensive comparison of this important collection of sources has been carried out by Britta Matterne, and multiple doubts expressed by Schnabel were clarified thus improving the original critical apparatus.
The book comes with an introductory essay and the reproduction of a typewritten letter by Karl Ulrich Schnabel, which clarifies the editorial criteria adopted and makes it all the more interesting for the audience of scholars and performers.
