The ''

Variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

on a Theme of Chopin'' is a work for solo piano by

Federico Mompou Frederic Mompou Dencausse (; alternatively Federico Mompou; 16 April 189330 June 1987) was a Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist. He is remembered for his solo piano music and songs. Life Early years Mompou was born in Barcelona to the ...

. It is based on the Prelude in A major, Op. 28, No. 7, by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

. It started out as a piece for

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and piano, written in

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

between Mompou and the cellist

Gaspar Cassadó Gaspar Cassadó i Moreu (30 September or 5 October 1897 – 24 December 1966) was a Spanish cellist and composer of the early 20th century. He was born in Barcelona to a church musician father, Joaquim Cassadó, and began taking cello lesson ...

. Work on this version of the piece started in 1938, but was abandoned. Mompou then published four variations for solo piano, but with the incongruous title ''Three Variations''.

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

's ballet ''La Casa de los Pájaros'' (''The House of Birds''), set to orchestrations by

John Lanchbery John Arthur Lanchbery OBE (15 May 1923 – 27 February 2003) was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor ...

of various piano pieces by Mompou, had been premiered at Sadler's Wells in London in 1955, and was also staged at the 4th Festival de Música y Danza at

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. Mompou was then asked by

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, LondonNaxos
/ref> to write another ballet in the hope of emulating the success of ''La Casa de los Pájaros''. For this, Mompou completed the full set of 12 variations in 1957. The latter ballet was never produced, and the music was published as ''Variations on a Theme of Chopin'', without any reference to any balletic connections.
/ref> The work was dedicated to Mompou's friend Pedro Masaveu, a banker who had made available to Mompou his house in which to compose. The variations were premiered by the Catalan pianist Albert Attenelle in 1964 after working with the composer.

The variations

* Theme. Andantino (A major) * Variation 1. ''Tranquillo e molto amabile'' (A major) * Variation 2. ''Gracioso'' (A major) * Variation 3. ''Lento'' (D major, for the left hand) * Variation 4. ''Espressivo'' (F major) * Variation 5. ''Tempo di

Mazurka The mazurka (Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character de ...

'' (A major) * Variation 6. ''Recitativo'' (G minor) * Variation 7. ''Allegro leggiero'' (A major) * Variation 8. ''Andante dolce e espressivo'' (F major) * Variation 9. ''

Valse The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wal ...

'' (A major) * Variation 10. ''Évocation. Cantabile molto espressivo'' (F sharp minor; Mompou

quotes Quote is a hypernym of quotation, as the repetition or copy of a prior statement or thought. Quotation marks are punctuation marks that indicate a quotation. Both ''quotation'' and ''quotation marks'' are sometimes abbreviated as "quote(s)". ...

his own ''Cancion y Danza'' No. 6; in the middle section, he quotes the central theme from Chopin's ''

Fantaisie-Impromptu Frédéric Chopin's ''Fantaisie-Impromptu'' ( pl, Fantazja-Impromptu) in C minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a solo piano composition. It was composed in 1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none of ...

'', Op. 66) * Variation 11. ''Lento dolce e legato'' (F sharp minor) * Variation 12. ''Galope y Epílogo'' (A major).

Arrangements

An orchestration was completed, but this was largely the work of the conductor

Antoni Ros-Marbà Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the fe ...

. The work has been transcribed for two guitars by William Lovelady. This has been recorded by brothers

Slava Slava may refer to: Ships * ''Slava'' class cruiser, a modern Russian warship ** Soviet cruiser Slava (1979), now Russian cruiser ''Moskva'', a ''Slava'' class guided missile cruiser sunk during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine * Russian ba ...

and

Leonard Grigoryan Leonard Grigoryan is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist of Armenian heritage. He is the younger brother of fellow guitarist Slava Grigoryan, with whom he often plays in a duo as the Grigoryan Brothers. Life and career Of Arm ...

.ABC Classics
/ref>

In popular culture

* In the 1990 film adaption of

Sakura no Sono is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akimi Yoshida. It was serialized from 1985 to 1986 in Hakusensha's manga magazine LaLa. The story focuses on individuals from a drama club that are putting on Anton Chekhov's 1904 play ' ...

(櫻の園, literally ''Cherry Blossom Garden''), a recording by

Mari Kumamoto Mari Kumamoto (熊本マリ, born October 15, 1964) is a Japanese-born professional pianist known for her recordings of Spanish and Japanese composers. Early life Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kumamoto began piano studies at age five. At age ten, sh ...

is used for the soundtrack throughout the film.

References

{{Authority control Compositions for solo piano Chopin 1957 compositions Compositions by Federico Mompou Composer tributes (classical music)

The variations

Arrangements

In popular culture

See also

References