Jimin Oh-Havenith dedicates this volume of her Schumann edition to his variations, which form the beginning, the core, and the conclusion of his unique piano oeuvre. ​In the fourth instalment of her widely acclaimed Schumann edition, Jimin Oh-Havenith turns to his works for piano in variation form.

Three of the pieces recorded here occupy a singular place in Schumann's biography: both his first published composition, the Abegg Variations, and his final completed work, the so-called Ghost Variations, belong to this genre. The twelve Symphonic Etudes - situated chronologically at the heart of his piano output of the 1830s, long revered by pianists yet equally feared for their formidable technical demands - are likewise variations on a theme.

Whereas the young Schumann, in the Abegg Variations, conjured a sparkling and virtuosic play on musical letters from the name of a Heidelberg acquaintance, the Ghost Variations unfold as a deeply moving dialogue between the gravely ill composer and his great models, Schubert and Mendelssohn Bartholdy. This extraordinary breadth of expression once again affords Jimin Oh-Havenith the opportunity to demonstrate the intensity and originality of her Schumann interpretation.