Music in Peebles: Patrick Hemmerlé
Patrick Hemmerlé piano French pianist Patrick Hemmerlé is one of Europe’s foremost and most enigmatic pianists. Refusing to follow traditional music conventions he has forged a unique path in the musical world, leaving him free to immerse himself into his chosen repertoire. He is also a charismatic speaker, able to elucidate the musical concepts close to his heart. Recent engagements have taken him to New York, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Prague and China. He has published 5 CDs, the latest of which is a pairing of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier and Fischer’s Ariadne Musica. His programme includes just two works: Bach’s Goldberg Variations, written originally for the harpsicord and published in 1741, but not recorded until 1933 by pioneer of the harpsichord Wanda Landowska. Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations are based on a waltz by the Austrian composer and music publisher Anton Diabelli. Other composers also wrote variations on Diabelli’s waltz, but it is Beethoven’s which have become part of the virtuosi pianist’s repertoire. When Diabelli published Beethoven’s set in 1823, he said: “all these variations, through the novelty of their ideas, care in working-out, and beauty in the most artful of their transitions, will entitle the work to a place beside Sebastian Bach’s famous masterpiece in the same form.” Bach Goldberg Variations Beethoven Diabelli Variations
