András Schiff conductor/piano

Brahms ‘Variations on a theme by Joseph Haydn’
Haydn Symphony No. 104, ‘London’
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4

Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms form three generations of titans of German classical music. Brahms was deeply interested in musical history and scholarship and this set of variations honouring Haydn seems to chart the course of musical history since the composition of the original theme.

Haydn’s own Symphony No. 104 ends the first half of the programme; this was the composer’s last symphony but has no valedictory tone and is instead full of confidence and inspiration, no doubt stimulated by the new environment in which the composer found himself. Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto ends the concert with its sparkling finale containing a mixture of delicate filigree and exuberant vitality.