Joost Van Kerkhoven: Piano
Brecht Valckenaers: Piano
The practice of improvising and composing variations on existing themes known to the public was one of the driving forces behind musical innovation in the 19th century. From Beethoven and Schumann to Reger and Rachmaninov, for almost every composer the genre of the variation series was a laboratory where the boundaries of harmony, form and thematic unity were explored.
However, with the entry of more mathematical writing techniques and the disappearance of improvisation from classical performance practice, this genre faded into the background in the 20th century. Fortunately, it found a second breath in jazz, where it remained the main concert practice.
So time for a 'classical' revaluation, and so the idea was born to get back to this genre. Not historically, but on a postmodern model, as we find it in, among others. "The People United" by American composer Frederik Rzewski: variations where both genre and construction method and aesthetics become a continuum. Inspired by jazz standards, developed using contemporary construction techniques.