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Walter Gieseking, one of the most outstanding pianists in the history of classical piano performance in the 20th century (1895-1956), composed “Chaconne über ein Thema von Scarlatti” from the 14th until the 21st January 1939, while he was a passenger on board the SS New York of Hamburg America Line (Hapag) on the way to his concert tour to the U.S. According to a letter to his wife, Annie, the composer-pianist wrote “I tried to compose a Chaconne (8-measure variations) on a Theme by Scarlatti away from the piano…and the result was much better than I had expected…I almost feel that the method of piecing together a composition at the piano is wrong.”