Rondo Brillante for piano in E flat major ("La Gaité"), J. 252 (Op. 62)

• Date: 1819
• Composer: Carl Maria von Weber
• Period: Romantic (1820-1869)

Review

Weber composed the Rondo Brillante in E-flat major in 1819, at a time when his work on Der Freischütz was interrupted for various reasons. Despite some personal difficulties, he became immersed in composition and within a short time composed not only the Rondo Brillante, but also the Aufforderung zum Tanze ("The Invitation to the Dance"), the Eight Pieces, Op. 60 for piano duet, and the companion piece to the Rondo, the Polacca Brillante. All these pieces are virtuosic works for the piano and demonstrate a new direction in Weber's music.

The Rondo Brillante follows the form indicated in the title, and the transitions from the episodes back to the principal theme are among the more engaging features of the work. In its various returns, the rondo theme takes on a different character as Weber attempts modal shifts, fragmentation, and other manipulations of the idea. As a piece that bears the subtitle "Le Gaité" (just as the companion Pollaca has the subtitle "Le Hilarité), the extroverted mood of the piece anticipates the music he would compose in the Piano Sonata, no. 4.

The music is idiomatic for piano, and it would be difficult to imagine a successful arrangement of the Rondo Brillante into a orchestral work, as occurred with the Aufforderung zum Tanze. Instead, it is a work that requires a performer with full command of the instrument in order to execute the technical passages and also to introduce the nuances that connect the various sections of the work. It is a piece that Franz Liszt performed later in the century and also published in his own edition. ~ James Zychowicz, Rovi

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Ania Dorfmann - The Columbia Recordings 1931-38
Carl Maria von Weber: Complete Sonatas	1988
Carl Maria von Weber: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Invitation to the Dance; Rondo Brillante J252	1992
Carnegie Hall Recital, 1947
Classical Melodies	2003
Classical Piano	2004
Earl Wild: In Concert	2007
Grigory Ginzburg Early Recordings, Vol. 2: Chopin, Weber & Schumann
Les Rarissimes de Thierry de Brunhoff: Weber, Chopin, Schumann	2004
Les joyaux de votre discothèque: Carl Maria von Weber	1993
One Piano, Four Hands	2005
The Best of 25 Piano Favorites	2001
The Piano Library
Weber: Complete Piano Sonatas	1988
Weber: Piano Music, Vol. 4	1994
Weber: Piano Works	1999
Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls, Vol. 2: R. Strauss, Grieg, Chopin, Weber	2004

Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Weber: Piano Sonatas	1993

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