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The Beth Variations (1993, rev. 2025)
for solo piano
Composed by Kenneth Ducore Lieberson
Paula Suárez Quijano, piano
Music Production: Analiett Presno Rodríguez
Sound Recording and Mastering: Tony Carrera
Assistant: Jorge A. Wrves Román
Audiovisual Production: Chris Erland
Program Notes
The Beth Variations (for Piano Solo) is part of a series of valentines for my wife.
It is based on three random notes Beth played when she walked by our piano.
Perhaps it was a twinkle in her eye of our son... who was not yet born.😇
"Our" piece starts with the loneliness I felt before I meeting Beth... soon replaced by tenderness, as if awakening to another day with my soulmate. Gradually the work becomes animated, at times passionate, at times
playful... there are even a few difficult moments as all marriages of 35+ years have...
probably shorter ones too.🤣..
My sets of variations are actually fantasies... that is, they spring from a limited number of notes. The Beth Variations embraces some elements of classical variation form as well as fantasy... perhaps unconsciously I was attempting to become more connected to reality... Beth is much more grounded, more practical than I, hence the additional structure.
The orchestrated (1993) version of The Beth Variations is also on SoundCloud.
The two versions differ substantially.
I plan to re-orchestrate so they match... if there is enough audience demand... in my dreams... right.😊Beth wants both the 1993 and 2025 versions to be available be online— so that is going to be.
My Second Piano Sonata (not recorded yet) is a completely different kind of valentine... very moody. That sonata is based on her name — a conglomeration of "solfeges" 😊 and English....B E Ti and H (as in the German B natural).
The most recent of these valentines— if you want to make a playlist of Beth valentines— is Valentine for Beth (also on SoundCloud)...
I think audiences would like these a lot...
at least my primary audience, Beth does... and I like that ❤ actually, her favorite color is 🩵