Iain Farrington

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  • Home
  • Biography
  • Arrangements
    • Chamber Orchestra
    • Symphony Orchestra
    • Chamber Music
    • Choral & Vocal
    • Piano/Organ
    • Opera
    • Songs
    • Piano reductions
    • Elgar Complete Edition
    • List of orchestral performers
  • Compositions
    • Orchestra
    • Piano
    • Organ
    • Chamber
    • Vocal & Choral
  • Pianist
    • London 2012 Olympics
    • Mahler Piano Series
  • Organist
  • Art Deco Trio
  • Recordings
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Picture
Johannes Brahms - Variations on a Theme of Haydn
for Octet

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) composed his Variations on a Theme of Haydn in 1873, in two versions: one for two pianos (Op. 56b) and one for orchestra (Op. 56a). It is a theme and variations based on the Saint Anthony Chorale. Brahms took the theme from the second movement of a wind ensemble piece Divertimento No. 1 that was attributed to Joseph Haydn. It is now thought that Haydn did not compose the piece, and it may instead have been by Ignaz Joseph Pleyel, a pupil of Haydn. There are eight variations on the theme followed by a finale using a ground bass or passacaglia, a concept that Brahms was later to use in his Fourth Symphony. This arrangement is for octet, using the same instrumentation as Schubert's Octet in F major, D803.

Available to hire or purchase from Aria Editions here

Instrumentation: clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, double bass (8 players)
Listen to a live performance here:

Brahms - Variations on a Theme of Haydn (16’50)
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