This work was a tremendous success when first performed in February 1923 with the composer himself at the piano. It did much to cement his reputation as a great craftsman of chamber music, since the score is especially demanding for such a limited ensemble. Korngold became adept at writing chamber music that sounded larger than the ensemble for which it was written, mainly achieved by liberal use of double and triple stopping for the stringed instruments.

Dedicated to the sculptor Gustinus Ambrosi, the work uses the song Mond so gehst du wieder auf from the Vier Abschiedslieder as the basis for an intricately crafted set of variations. Korngold used the piece to experiment with many aspects of chamber music, not the least of which is extreme metrical flexibility, with no less than fifty four changes of time signature in the brief work.



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