Hayden Wayne & The Wallinger String Quartet - Rosenberger Variations: The Romantic (CD)

Release Date: 05/06/22

The Rosenberger Variations and The Romantic are the first string quartets of a cycle of ten called The Nuzerov String Quartets/

Theme and variation is a very interesting concept, beyond the obvious spin one ultimately applies to the main theme, one can't deny all the previous experiences one will draw upon from consciously and subliminally. There are many brilliant examples of theme and variation, but the granddaddy of them all is THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, by Johann Sebastian Bach, which remains the benchmark for anyone who chooses to indulge in the form, let alone counterpoint.

THE ROSENBERGER VARIATIONS use the Goldberg as a model with the main theme at the beginning and end bracketing the interior fifteen variations.

I met IRMGARD HESS ROSENBERGER when she was an octogenarian She was from a family of music royalty: her father, Alfred Hess, was the concertmaster of the Frankfurt Philharmonic Orchestra; uncle Frederick was the principal cellist for the original Chicago Orchestra, which was to change its name to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; uncle Willy was the director of the Royal High School for Music in Berlin. Notables such as Max Bruch and Richard Strauss stayed in her home. A Renaissance woman, who was equally alarmed by how the classical elite has all but thumbed its nose at the audience, befriended me (and my music) and became a most generous patron and champion.

On 11/25/98, as part of the reopening ceremonies of the Spanish Synagogue in Prague, THE ROSENBERBER VARIATIONS had its world premiere in front of a standing room only audience, including fifteen heads of state and a representative from the Vatican.

After finishing the variations, I tried to distract myself by working on two different libretti ideas I had for an opera, but was growing more restless and annoying to be with. My wife Yitka, asked, 'Why don't you write another string quartet... something romantic for me?' I blew it off. But after two weeks of driving everyone around me and myself more crazy, there I was writing THE ROMANTIC, for my wife, who truly deserved it. I completed it in fifteen days.