Ingrid Karlen - Webern, Silvestrov, Boulez: Variations (1997)

Tracklist

01. Variations for Piano, Op. 27: 1. Sehr mäßig
02. Variations for Piano, Op. 27: 2. Sehr schnell
03. Variations for Piano, Op. 27: 3. Ruhig fließend
04. Sonata for Piano No. 3: Ustvolskaya: Sonata for Piano No. 3
05. Elegy: Silvestrov: Elegy
06. Sonata No. 5 for Piano: Ustvolskaya: Sonata No. 5 for Piano
07. Douze notations pour piano: 1. Fantasque - Modéré
08. Douze notations pour piano: 2. Très vif
09. Douze notations pour piano: 3. Assez lent
10. Douze notations pour piano: 4. Rythmique
11. Douze notations pour piano: 5. Doux et improvisé
12. Douze notations pour piano: 6. Rapide
13. Douze notations pour piano: 7. Hiératique
14. Douze notations pour piano: 8. Modéré jusqu'à très vif
15. Douze notations pour piano: 9. Lointain - Calme
16. Douze notations pour piano: 10. Mécanique et très sec
17. Douze notations pour piano: 11. Scintillant
18. Douze notations pour piano: 12. Lent - Puissant et âpre

Swiss pianist Ingrid Karlen makes her ECM debut with Variations, of which the program is as provocative as the title is vague. Beyond variations in the traditional sense, these are, rather, mise-en-abymes of abstractions. Or so they might at first aural glance seem, for within these sometimes troubling clusters of false starts breathes a unity at once organic and contrived. Anton Webern’s Variations for Piano, op. 27 (1935/36) is the primary example, for the only variations they seem to engender stem from that which cannot be notated. These pieces behave as might a solo violin sonata, jumping fluidly and bow-like through their ephemeral 12-tone links. They are the anti-motif, a stretch of childhood unable to be sifted.

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