VARIATIONS brings together four works that have accompanied pianist Fidan Aghayeva-Edler for many years: Clara Schumann’s Variationen über ein Thema von Robert Schumann, Cécile Chaminade’s Thème varié, Lili Boulanger’s Thème et Variations, and Ilse Fromm-Michaels’ Variationen über ein eigenes Thema.
Having performed, explored and internalised these pieces repeatedly in concert, Aghayeva-Edler now presents them in her first recording. The album traces the many facets of the variation form across different generations and musical languages—from the expansive Romanticism of Clara Schumann and Cécile Chaminade to the impressionistic and expressive worlds of Lili Boulanger and Ilse Fromm-Michaels.
VARIATIONS is released by Salomé Records, a label dedicated to music by women composers. The album is initially available exclusively as a physical CD -- a small, deliberately analogue counterpoint to an increasingly digital musical world.
The recording was made on 4 August 2026 on the Steinway grand piano in the hall of the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung Berlin-Pankow, with the kind support of Musikschule Béla Bartók.
Recording, production, mastering by Jobina Tinnemans
Artwork by Fidan Aghayeva-Edler, design by Jobina Tinnemans
