Theme and Variation 1
Variation 2
Variation 3
Variation 4
Variation 5
Variation 6
Variation 7
Variation 8
Variation 9
Variation 10
Variation 11
Variation 12
Variation 13
Variation 14
Variation 15
Variation 16
Variation 17
Variation 18
Variation 19
Variation 20
Variation 21
Variation 22
Variation 23
Variation 24
Variation 25
Variation 26
Variation 27
Variation 28
Variation 29
Variation 30
Variation 31
Variation 32
Variation 33

At the suggestion of his friend and patron of the arts Roland F.O. Hercher, the composer Franz Hummel has written 33 Variations on a small waltz. Its substance is pieced together from casual sequences of letters and cryptic alphabet mutations drawn from the Christian and surnames "Roland F.O. Hercher and Sieglinde Pirzer'', in order to create a suitably lyrical model, reminiscent of a quiet summer evening on Roland's terrace, that offers plenty of scope for variations.

Although Hummel has always held a poor opinion of programme music, he found himself in a difficult situation: in this piano work, he wanted to characterize the two people linked in the theme in each single number and thus came jnto conflict with his often all too enthusiastically proclaimed rejection of extra-musical programmatic elements. ''Fortunately, at the age of eighty, one is old enough to bend a few wizened rules of life from time to time with late adolescent satisfaction. Work on the composition becomes more and more pleasurable and the imagination increases, if one simply throws one's ideologies overboard.'' - says the composer.

With an enthusiasm that is all his own, the talented 18-year-old piano virtuoso Christoph Preiss not only learned the "Hercher Variations'' by heart in a very short time but also recorded them on CD right away with wonderful effortlessness. The inspiration and accomplishment with which he presents the piece, that is anything but easy, is immediately convincing.

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Recording: 07/2019 – Stadthalle Neutraubling/Germany. Piano: Bösendorfer 225.