Charles-Marie Widor

Variations sur un thème original

Whereas the organ works by Widor have secured a solid position in the repertoire, his no less elaborate and artistic piano works are known to only a small circle of pianists, probably because the piano works by Debussy and Ravel outdid him in this field. 'Variations de Concert sur un thème original' carried by profound melancholy were published in 1867 for the first time and have remained his non-verifiable opus 1 to this day. They show that the young composer takes the tonal language of J. S. Bach as a starting point, yet gives his cycle of variations, which is reminiscent of the 'Goldberg Variations', its own romantic expression. In 1876 he revised the variations and published them under the slightly modified title of 'Variations sur un Thème original pour piano' Op. 29. Our carefully edited new edition contains both versions (Op. 1 and Op. 29) about which one may say without exaggeration that they should be in the possession of every concert pianist.