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Variations (and Fantasias) on a theme are great

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 5:36

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By Brian Clegg

Some of my favourite pieces of music are variations (or variants) on a theme. Unlike a pop cover version, these aren’t just a different arrangement of the same song, but rather the composer takes a snippet of music, often by someone else and go off in all sorts of directions. My personal favourite is the Ralph Vaughan Williams piece Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (it’s a fantasia because it’s a looser continuous form referencing the original, rather than a set of separate variations, but in essence it’s the same kind of thing). The original is a rather staid (though beautiful) hymn tune, but Vaughan Williams takes it to amazing new heights.

I was therefore rather disappointed listening to composer Debbie Wiseman talking about her Paralympic homecoming piece I‘m Walking with You (played beautifully by a blind pianist called Lucy – I don’t think she’s called ‘Lucy the pianist’ as the image seems to suggest, I think she featured in a TV show called The Pianist).

I may have missed it, but I heard no mention of the fact that Wiseman’s piece is a variation (or fantasia) on a theme by Handel. It was just referred to as a ‘song’ by the composer. On her website, all it says is ‘Debbie Wiseman has composed a new piece.’

I don’t claim any originality in this observation. I can’t imagine that anyone who knows Handel’s Sarabande wouldn’t spot the relationship. It just seemed a pity that this doesn’t appear in the title and wasn’t a point discussed with the radio programme’s presenter.

To give an appropriate comparison, as Wiseman’s piece is primarily on piano, here’s a piano version of the Sarabande (I suggest listening to the first 20 seconds or so then switching to the other for immediate comparison):

And here’s Wiseman’s piece:

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Now Appearing is the blog of science writer Brian Clegg (www.brianclegg.net), author of Inflight Science, Before the Big Bang and The God Effect.

Source: http://brianclegg.blogspot.com/2024/09/variations-and-fantasias-on-theme-are.html

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