Balázs Árpád

Variations on a Theme by Elgar

In Árpád Balázs's diverse and varied oeuvre, works for wind orchestra play a prominent role alongside choral music. He composed the Elgar Variations in 2022 on the theme of one of Edward Elgar's (1857-1934) short early works (Love's Greetings, 1888). As Árpád Balázs writes ''The theme I used as the starting point for my work may already be considered a variation, since I 'peeled off' the dense ornamentation and the tonicisations from it, and what remained was the melody, beautiful in its own place. What come back from time to time from the theme in the variations are: the arched structure, the double peak point, and mostly the major sixth leaping downwards, then upwards. The modest, transparent orchestration, which then is amplified at the repetition of the theme is also a defining feature. There is a personal family secret hidden in the third variation: a late compliment to a loyal spouse for the past half century... The closing variation is calm and quiet - similarly to the chorale-like slow movement in Béla Bartók's 3rd Piano Concerto. It is like a message from an old composer to the Future.'' The Elgar Variations together with the Concertino (1992, Z. 14909) and the Rhapsody (2015-2021, Z. 15167) form an ambitious, emotionally wide-range trilogy for a concert band.