Samuele Massari

Tema e Variazioni

Variation is the re-proposition, but above all, the re-interpretation from time to time different according to a pattern that usually ranges from simple to complex, of a starting idea: the Theme.
This is gradually reshaped, reinvented, seen under a different perspective to bring out the infinite facets within it.
In this work, in addition to the usual procedures of varying the melody, rhythm, tempo, harmony, mode, tonality, type of accompaniment etc., we also wanted to work on the character, the message to be conveyed, thus ultimately the style of each variation.
Thus were born, several Author's quotations and "homages"...

the Theme: it is the Andante from Symphony No. 53 the Imperial, though not taken from there directly, but from Hymn No. 73 of the Gospel Hymnal, whose revision and reprinting I edited. Hymn slightly different in character and form from the Andante.
Variation I:besides the notes of the Theme, here very recognizable, it also contains melodic elements from the first movement of the Symphony.

Variation II:is the only one that begins in upbeat like the Andante, all others are in downbeat like Hymn 73. Variation mainly dedicated to brass, contains a "dissonant" part intended almost as a parody of the consonant counterpart.

Variation III:different in tonality and containing a "mysterious, slower" part with Klezmer atmospheres, seeking exotic reflections and scents.

Variation IV:mainly dedicated to the Flute, pays "homage to P. Grainger" in the orchestration, in the playful, almost comic character, even more evident in the finale.

Variation V:In addition to being conceived in "Bach's style," it contains two real quotations from the Maestro, the first being a passage from the Invention for Two Voices No. 14 initially heard in the basses, then taken up and reprised in different registers and timbres; the other takes up, imitates, the well-known "Tema Regio" from the "Musikalisches Opfer".

Variation VI:contains a wonderful fragment of the Allegro from Concerto No. 21 K467 for piano and orchestra by W. A. Mozart. Fragment that precisely overlaps with a semi-phrase of our Theme and obviously influenced the melodic construction of the entire variation.

Variation VII:with dedication "to my friend Lorenzo Piro", author of the Hymn "the Winner," whose melody, somewhat as happened with the previous Variation, partly coincided with the Theme of Hymn 73, thus in fact a "Hymn within the Hymn." Very calm, gentle, with the character of a "Lullaby," it mitigates and balances the more "lively" character of other variations.

Variation VIII:With an asymmetrical tempo that contributes to giving it the pummeling character of "joke, fun," it sets out to "describe" groups of people and children joyfully walking to a square with merry-go-rounds on a festive day. The melody was fragmented and given to the different "families" of instruments to have the effect of a multitude of voices in which the highest registers are obviously those of the children. Orchestrated in a fuller way, with the clear intention of describing, if possible, the cheerfulness but also the noises, the confusion of a square full of festive people. An important role is played by the First Horn, whose glissandos are meant to recall the megaphone of a merry-go-round, or a clown summoning the children. There are also little "pops" of firecrackers entrusted to the Xylophone, and a child wandering around the square with a whistle in his mouth..On the finale, a very brief episode involving mostly brass evokes the "village band" announcing the end of the festival.

Variation IX: with "homage to G.Donizetti" contains the quotation from the Concertino for English Horn and Orchestra A459 which, as was the case with VI, melodically and stylistically influenced the entire Variation. Note that the melody that socked on Haydn's Theme, in turn is Variation 1 of Donizetti's Theme, thus in fact a "variation of the variation."

Variation X: If melodically it is by far the simplest and in form (intentionally) fully mirrors Haydn's Theme; harmonically, however, it is the most complex. Very different in concept from its predecessors, it not only uses bitonality (motif of the "homage to V. Persichetti") but explores a different dissonance/consonance relationship. In this context, dissonance loses "the instinct" to resolve, to seek consonance; rather it is seen as an element in its own right, autonomous and self-sufficient, upsetting the "classical" view of dissonance. Thus seen no longer as a dynamic element, of movement, but static, of rest. And the striking thing is that when dissonances are so regular and constant that they totally replace consonances, they in turn almost take on the characteristics of consonances and no longer "disturb" the ear, in fact sounding like consonances.

Grandioso: is Haydn's Theme in the typical repetition in emphatic tones, expanded both towards the high and the low end; in fact it is an Eleventh Variation. Very different from the Theme heard at the beginning, also in character, orchestration, dynamics. Simple, flowing and without too many frills the former, much richer in intermediate passages and twists and turns the latter. The Sontuoso character of the opening Theme is abandoned for a sunny, jovial, sparkling mood, interrupted here and there only by "theatrical" episodes. On the coda pedals one hears melodic material from both earlier passages and earlier Variations, until the concluding crowns, of the "grand finale" with which the work closes.