Life Variations
This work bears the designation Opus 50.
General Info
Year: 2003
Duration: c. 13:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Cafua
Cost: Score and Parts (Rental) - 42,350 yen
Movements
1. Birth and Death – 4:25
2. The Poem of Ecstasy - 4:05
3. The Song of Love – 3:00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
B-flat Flugelhorn I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Piano
Synthesizer
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Anvil
- Bass Drum
- Bongo
- Chain
- Cowbell
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Shaker
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal (2)
- Tambourine
- Tam-tam
- Tom-tom (3)
- Triangle
- Tubular Bells
- Vibraphone
- Whip
- Wind Chimes
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Life Variations, Op. 50 by Japanese composer and conductor Eiji Suzuki was written in 2003, and first performed by the Hamamatsu Symphonic Winds during the same year.
The work is descriptive and has a large symphonic scope, with a marked taste for lyricism and dramatic sense. It is structured in three movements, Birth and Death, Poem of Ecstasy and Song of Love.
- Program Note from WASBE
Media
- Audio: Reference recording (mvt. 1). Hamamatsu Symphonic Wind Orchestra (Tohru Asada, conductor)
- Audio: Reference recording (mvt. 2). Hamamatsu Symphonic Wind Orchestra (Tohru Asada, conductor)
- Audio: Reference recording (mvt. 3). Hamamatsu Symphonic Wind Orchestra (Tohru Asada, conductor)
- Audio MP3: Hamamatsu Symphonic Wind Orchestra (Tohru Asada, conductor)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Cantique de Jean Racine (as arranger) (1865/2000)
- Carmen Fantasy (as arranger) (1875/2001)
- Cantos Sonare (2004)
- Chingis Khan (2007)
- Dance Suite (as arranger) (1923/2000)
- Die Fledermaus (as arranger) (1874/2004)
- Fanfare "S-E-A" (2001)
- The Fete of Light for Wind Ensemble (2001)
- Genesis (2022)
- Gianni Schicchi (as arranger) (1918/2015)
- Ho-O Jin-ai cho-fu (2004)
- Huntingtower (arr Suzuki) (as arranger) (1932/2001)
- Intrada "S-S-S" (2003)
- Life Variations (2003)
- Merry Widow, The (as arranger) (1905/2001)
- Prayer of a Distant Island (2011)
- Song and Legend (2014)
- Songs and Dances (1995/2010)
- The Soaring Freedom Bell (2004/2018)
- Three Spectacles for Navy Blue (2003)
- Viva Massima (2010)
Resources
- "LIFE VARIATIONS Op. 50 for Wind Ensemble by Eiji Suzuki (Japan, 1965)." WASBE. Web. (Featured as WASBE’s Composition of the Week, 6 March 2023). Accessed 6 March 2023