- Chopin’s Variations on Mozart’s “La Ci Darem La Mano” is a work for piano and orchestra written in 1827 as a student assignment by composition teacher Józef Elsner.
- As his theme, Chopin chose the duet between Zerlina and Don Giovanni, “Là ci darem la mano” (There we will hold hands) from Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni. The piece is structured as a traditional theme and variations: introduction, theme, five variations and finale.1
- Fun fact – Variations on Mozart’s “La Ci Darem La Mano” represents Chopin’s first work for orchestra.
- Additional fun fact – The piece was adored by both Robert Schumann and his piano teacher/ future father-in-law, Friedrich Wieck. The variations even became a staple of 12-year-old Clara‘s early repertoire.2
Sources
- Mieczysław Tomaszewski, “Variations in B flat major on a theme from Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ (‘Là ci darem la mano’), Op. 2,” The Fryderyk Chopin Institute, accessed March 17, 2025, https://chopin.nifc.pl/en/chopin/kompozycja/15_variations-in-b-flat-major-on-a-theme-from-mozarts-don-giovanni-la-ci-darem-la-mano.
- Wikipedia contributors, “Variations on “Là ci darem la mano”,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, accessed March 17, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Variations_on_%22L%C3%A0_ci_darem_la_mano%22&oldid=1263422845.
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