Variations on an Original Theme in D Major for Piano (2015)
Tema — Andante e rubato
Var. 1 — Allegro
Var. 2 — Quasi tempo I ma un poco meno mosso
Var. 3 — Allegro
Var. 4 — Adagio
Var. 5 — Vivace
Var. 6 — Grave
Var. 7 — Allegro – Tempo I
This piece was commissioned by fellow Front Music School student Joanna Gonzalez. There is a strange union of peace with ecstasy, contentment with wonder, in the great variations of classical composers (Bach’s Goldberg Variations, or Beethoven’s late variation movements, or Rzewski’s The People United, for example). Continuously retracing the same patterns in ever new ways, the music traces a winding, mysterious path, coming full circle to conclude where it began, but transformed.
This smaller piece captures hints of that great art. The initial theme is more suggestion than melody, a haunting outline of possibilities to come. The first five variations draw heavily on Bach’s counterpoint and figuration, while the sixth occupies a different expressive world, full of sadness and doubt. This is answered by the alternatively triumphant and playful seventh variation. The piece concludes new version of the theme: what was previously suggested is now fully realized.
Variations for Piano in D major