Variations Mishka Rushdie Momen

• Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896): Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20:
• 1 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Theme. Ziemlich langsam 01:11
• 2 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 1 00:48
• 3 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 2 01:07
• 4 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 3 01:15
• 5 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 4 00:55
• 6 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 5. Poco animato 01:16
• 7 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 6 01:11
• 8 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20: Var. 7 03:59
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5:
• 9 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: Theme. Ziemlich langsam 01:39
• 10 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 1, — 00:53
• 11 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 2, Lebhafter 00:50
• 12 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 3, Sehr präcis 00:50
• 13 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 4, Ziemlich langsam 01:21
• 14 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 5, Lebhaft 01:37
• 15 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 6, Schnell 01:09
• 16 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 7, Tempo des Themas 00:58
• 17 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 8, Mit großer Kraft 02:18
• 18 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 9, — 01:03
• 19 Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Schumann, Op. 5: No. 10, Lebhaft 05:15
• Nico Muhly (b. 1981):
• 20 Small Variations 04:28
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156:
• 21 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Theme. Andante sostenuto 00:53
• 22 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 1 00:40
• 23 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 2, Un poco più animato 00:31
• 24 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 3, Più animato 00:22
• 25 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 4 00:23
• 26 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 5, Agitato 00:26
• 27 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 6, A tempo 00:27
• 28 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 7 00:25
• 29 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 8, Allegro vivace 00:19
• 30 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 9 00:26
• 31 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 10, Moderato 00:48
• 32 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 11 00:38
• 33 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 12, Tempo del tema 00:32
• 34 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 13 00:45
• 35 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 14, Adagio 01:08
• 36 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 15, Poco a poco più agitato 00:31
• 37 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 16, Allegro vivace 00:19
• 38 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, MWV U 156: Var. 17, Presto 02:37
• Vijay Iyer (b. 1971): Hallucination Party (After R. Schumann's Op. 99):
• 39 Hallucination Party (After R. Schumann's Op. 99): I. Moderato 03:22
• 40 Hallucination Party (After R. Schumann's Op. 99): II. Serene but Firm, with a Steady Pulse and Flowing 16ths 02:03
• 41 Hallucination Party (After R. Schumann's Op. 99): III. Clean, Nonchalant 05:04
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9:
• 42 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Theme. Ziemlich langsam 01:08
• 43 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 1, — 01:13
• 44 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 2, Poco più animato 00:28
• 45 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 3, Tempo di tema 01:02
• 46 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 4, Poco più moto 00:43
• 47 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 5, Allegro capriccioso 00:59
• 48 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 6, Allegro 00:54
• 49 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 7, Andante 00:57
• 50 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 8, Andante 01:45
• 51 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 9, Schnell 00:36
• 52 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 10, Poco Adagio 02:12
• 53 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 11, Un poco più animato 00:53
• 54 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 12, Allegretto, poco scherzando 00:47
• 55 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 13, Non troppo Presto 00:34
• 56 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 14, Andante 01:04
• 57 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 15, Poco Adagio 02:06
• 58 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9: Var. 16, — 02:02
• Total Runtime 01:16:05

Info for Variations

Making an impressive solo debut on SOMM this month is the young, fast-rising pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen. No stranger to SOMM, she joined two of today’s finest pianists – Valerie Tryon and Peter Donohoe – in Mozart’s dazzling Piano Concerto for Three Pianos, K242 in 2018.

Mishka studied with Joan Havill, Richard Goode and Imogen Cooper and was mentored by Sir András Schiff, who presented her in recitals throughout Europe and in New York for his acclaimed Building Bridges series.

This superbly realised recital includes Variations by Robert and Clara Schumann, Brahms and Mendelssohn, and first recordings of two new works, specially commissioned by Mishka for this recording, by Nico Muhly and Vijay Iyer. A single theme from Robert Schumann’s Bunte Blätter is the prompt for completely different, sometimes opposing, sets of musical mutations, the result as exciting as it is intriguing.

A birthday gift for her husband, Clara Schumann’s Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann are “an outpouring of generosity and love” that inspired Brahms’s Op.9 Variations (Op.9), which Rushdie Momen describes in her booklet notes as “one of his most intimate and personal expressions”.

The “burst of harmonic and rhythmic invention” that are Robert Schumann’s Op.5 Impromptus, and Mendelssohn’s “concise, rigorously constructed” Variations sérieuses were both modelled on Beethoven’s Eroica Variations.

Completing a recital brilliantly illustrating Rushdie Momen’s conviction that “the possibilities of the variation form seem infinite” are two world premiere recordings: Nico Muhly’s Small Variations – “a five-minute chorale with an explosion halfway through it” – and Vijay Iyer’s Hallucination Party, a “fever dream” packed with surprises.

A Guildhall School of Music and Drama graduate, Mishka Rushdie Momen is also a committed chamber musician who has partnered Steven Isserlis, Midori and members of the Endellion, Belcea and Artemis String Quartets.

Mishka Rushdie Momen, piano

Mishka Rushdie Momen
born in London 1992, studied with Joan Havill and Imogen Cooper at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has also studied with Richard Goode and Sir Andras Schiff, who presented her in recitals in Zurich Tonhalle, New York’s 92Y, Antwerp deSingel, and several cities in Germany and Italy for his 2016-17 “Building Bridges” Series. A committed chamber musician whose partners have included Steven Isserlis, Midori, Daniel Phillips, and members of the Endellion, Belcea, and Artemis String Quartets, she played in the 2016 Marlboro and Krzyzowa Music Festivals and regularly participates in Open Chamber Music at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. She performed in the “Chamber Music Connects the World” Festival in Kronberg in May.

She released her first commercial recording in 2017 produced by Somm Recordings to critical acclaim, appearing as one of the soloists in Mozart’s Triple Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her first solo recording, "Variations", was released in September on the same label. In 2014 Mishka Rushdie Momen was unanimously voted the 1st Prize winner of the Dudley International Piano Competition and performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra . In the same year she won 2nd Prize at the Cologne International Piano Competition.

Mishka has given solo recitals at the Barbican Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, and major venues across the UK, as well as abroad in New York City, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and India. This season includes debut performances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall and at the Haydn Festival in Austria.

She is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy as part of the Sir András Schiff Performance Programme for Young Pianists. This study is funded by the Henle Foundation.

Booklet for Variations