HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Anton Diabelli's Variations

Anton Diabelli

Born on 6 September 1781 in Mattsee, Austria, Anton Diabelli studied with Johann Michael Haydn. He was a solid composer with a twofold career as both a musician and publisher who wrote largely for guitar, piano and voice. Diabelli had already composed a number of works before becoming a priest in 1800 in Bavaria. Among these were his Op 1, 'Die Bürgermeister-Wahl' ('The Mayoral Election'), a kantate written as a teenager for five male voices and strings in 1798. The next year his monastery was closed, so he moved to Vienna to teach guitar and piano, finding employment as a proofreader for a publishing house. While continuing to compose, Diabelli founded his own publishing enterprise in 1817 which would become Cappi & Diabelli, the next year. Diabelli had already completed his 'Variations on a Favorite Theme' Op 57 in 1817, that a work for two guitars. Unable to identify a date for his popular Op 29 which is 'Troix Sonates' for guitar, I hazard that it preceded his Op 57.

No.2 of 'Troix Sonates' A major Op 29 Anton Diabelli Date unknown

Guitar: Daeyoon Cheon

IMSLP

'Variations on a Favorite Theme' Op 57 Anton Diabelli 1817

Guitars: Carlo Barone & Adrian Walter

Theme for 2 guitars w 5 variations

IMSLP

Diabelli began his 'Vaterländischer Künstlerverein' project in 1819, composing a waltz which he sent throughout Austria, requesting variations from composers such as Carl Czerny, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Franz Schubert. That saw publishing in 1823 and 1824 in two parts, Part 1 consisting of Beethoven's famous '33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli' (Op 120). Part 2 was a collection from fifty other composers including Franz Liszt who was seven years old and a student of Czerny at the time he wrote it [IMSLP]. This was Liszt's first published work (not his Op 1). During the period that Diabelli was collecting variations on his waltz he published works by Schubert in 1821.

Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli

'Waltz in C major' Original theme Anton Diabelli 1819

Piano: Dima Ruban

'33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli' Beethoven Op 120 1819-23

Piano: Hung-Kuan Chen

IMSLP Wikipedia

'Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli' 'Variation 1' Ignaz Assmayer Pub 1823

Piano: Ian Fountain

'Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli' 'Variation 16' Johann Hummel S 161 Pub 1823

Piano: Anonymous

'Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli' 'Variation 18' Friedrich Kalkbrenner Pub 1823

Piano: Ian Fountain

'Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli' 'Variation 24' Franz Liszt S 147 Pub 1823

Piano: Erolon

'Variation on a Waltz by Dibelli' 'Variation 26' Ignaz Moscheles Pub 1823

Piano: Ian Fountain

'Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli' 'Variation 38' Franz Schubert D 718 Pub 1823

Piano: Cubus

IMSLP

'Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli' 'Coda' (conclusion) Carl Czerny Pub 1823

Piano: Jörg Demus

Cappi left Cappi & Diabelli in 1824 which then became Diabelli & Co. Upon Schubert's premature death in 1728 Diabelli purchased his estate of some 1000 works from Schubert's brother, enabling his firm to print unheard works by Schubert for the next three decades. In the meantime he composed numerous works of his own. The stacking of samples below isn't necessarily chronological, as I've not been able to uncover a date for 'Serenata Concertante' Op 105.