|
Please DONATE to help with maintenance and upkeep of the Wind Repertory Project!
|
Mozart Variations
|
This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information. |
General Info
Year:
Duration: c. 9:30
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Instrumentation
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
In honor of [Dennis] Zeisler’s 25 years at ODU [Old Dominion University], the band leaders at 15 schools across the state got together last autumn to commission a piece of music to be composed specifically for Zeisler. The group, headed by Frank Garcia at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, chose Dr. James Sochinski, professor of music theory at Virginia Tech, an accomplished composer who is also the arranger for the Virginia Tech marching band.
Sochinski used the second movement of a clarinet quartet by W.A. Mozart -- a piece near and dear to Zeisler’s heart --as his basis and created variations on the main theme.
- Program Note from The Connection
Mozart Variations is a theme and seven variations on the Larghetto theme from the second movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, K.581. Dennis Zeisler is a fine clarinetist, and this movement is a favorite of his.
Mozart Variations employs a reverse variation technique where the playing of the theme in its original form is reserved until the finale of the work, as in d”Indy’s Istar variations. Variation 1 features a clipped rhythmic reflection of the asymmetrical (4,5,4,3,4) structure of Mozart’s theme. Variation 2 is a Saltarello right out of the Italian countryside. Variation 3 features an ostinato derived from the initial rhythmic gesture of the theme, over which pitches of the theme are given in (nearly literal) inversion. Variation 4 is a Polonaise, no surprise from a Polish-American composer writing for a dear friend. Variation 5 is a chorale in the tradition of the Nimrod variation from Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Variation 6 is a vertiginous phantasmagoria employing retrograde. Variation 7 is a scherzo … all variation sets need a fleeting scherzo!
Following a percussion crescendo, the Theme is finally presented, first tutti, then in a transparent texture reflecting Mozart’s original orchestration featuring solo clarinet. The winds intone “Thank you, Denn-nis” before the final chord.
- Program Note from Old Dominion University Wind Ensemble concert program, 8 April 2018
Media
- Audio CD: Virginia Wind Symphony (Dennis J. Zeisler, conductor) - 2004
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Virginia Wind Symphony (Norfolk) (Brian O. Waldron, conductor) - 12 February 2022
- Virginia Wind Symphony (Norfolk) (Dennis J. Zeisler, conductor) – 17 December 2004 (2004 Midwest Clinic)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Fantasie (2006)
- Halcyon Transfigured (1991)
- Hokie Stone Sinfonia (2016)
- The Legend of Alcobaca (1991)
- Mozart Variations
- Sweet Land of Liberty (1988)