Page 83 - FULL BOOK Isata Kanneh-Mason Childhood Tales

indulgence or knowingness; Traumerei combines gentility with
childlike joy.

Isata Kanneh-Mason’s trademark assiduousness is evident in the

Mozart 12 Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je Maman’, something
which keeps the energy up in many of the chattering variations,
especially number six.

Depending on your age or nationality, Dohnanyi’s Variations on a
Nursery Song takes ‘Ah, vous dirai-je Maman’ or ‘Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star’ as the theme for a 25 minute rip-roaring ride through

various entertaining musical treatments. This early work
showcases Dohnanyi’s playfulness right from the off. The
overstated ominous introduction deliciously subverts

expectations preparing the way for the nursery rhyme theme,
complete with sardonic plucked harmonies in the strings means
this opening statement still raises a smile despite me having first

heard this back in 1997 on a recording by the BBC Philharmonic
and Howard Shelley.

Written in 1914 fifteen years after Dohnanyi had completed his
studies at Budapest Academy, the variations celebrate two of the

abilities Donhnanyi successfully established his international
reputation on – his considerable keyboard technique and his deft

orchestrations. There is evidence of parody in every variation,
Dohnanyi imitating many of the composers who would have been
familiar to audiences in 1914 (listen out for hints to Dukas
Sorcerer’s Apprentice or Saint-Saens Danse Macabre in Variation

8). This variety of styles helps maintain interest throughout the
twenty minute piece.

Isata Kanneh-Mason and conductor Domingo Hindoyan maintain

a nimbleness throughout the variations, but this is especially
noticeable in the third movement, shifting from heart-pumping
exuberance to luxuriant expressiveness when the mood takes

them. The extended Variation 10 – the longest variation in the
complete work – prepares us for the concluding two variations
with a brooding musical idea that engulfs the orchestra, the