Work
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer
Variations on 'Willem van Nassau' (Dutch National Song), K.25
Performances: 3
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Variations on 'Willem van Nassau' (Dutch National Song), K.25Key: D
Year: 1766
Genre: Variations
Pr. Instrument: Piano
This is obviously a very early work by the prodigious, then-ten-year-old Mozart. His family had spent the winter of 1765-1766 in the Netherlands, where the theme to this antique Dutch anthem was apparently very popular among the people. Mozart must have found it catchy, since he fashioned this, his second set of keyboard variations from it while there. He had just completed his first, the K. 24 set, also on a Dutch source, the song Laat ons juichen, Batavieren! by Christian Ernst Graaf. This K. 25 set opens with a jaunty but graceful statement of the theme played in the upper register. The first variation embellishes the melody, making it sound busier and more playful. The next gives it a more muscular manner but without shedding its sprightly spirit, while the ensuing variant races up and down the keyboard, colorful swirls of notes abounding. The fourth hops about playfully, while the fifth is a lovely Adagio with sparse textures, the longest of the variations. The effervescent ensuing variant is light-treaded in the upper register and full of energy, while the closing one is joyful in its rhythmic drive. This piece typically has a duration of about seven minutes.
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