Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

's ''Symphonic Variations on the Theme “I am a fiddler”'' () for orchestra, Op. 78, B. 70, were written in 1877.antonin-dvorak.cz
/ref> They are played fairly commonly, much like

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

's ''

Variations on a Theme by Haydn The ''Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn'' (), now also called the ''Saint Anthony Variations'', is a work in the form of a theme and variations, composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1873 at Tutzing in Bavaria. It consists of a theme i ...

'' and

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

's ''

Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...

''. They are often recorded in conjunction with his nine symphonies.

Background

Supposedly, the work was a response to a challenge from a friend to write variations on a theme that seemed impossible for that purpose. Dvořák chose the third of his set of three part-songs for unaccompanied male voices (''Sborové písně pro mužské hlasy''), B. 66, titled "''Huslař''", or "''Já jsem huslař''" ("The fiddler", or "I am a fiddler"; text by Adolf Heyduk - the other two songs were from Moravian folk poetry). The three songs were written in mid-January 1877 and first performed on 4 March. The third song is in

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...

(ABA), where the lengths of the phrases are 7, 6, and 7 bars. But far from being impossible as a subject of variations, the theme turned out to be exceptionally well suited for that purpose. The ''Symphonic Variations'' were written between 6 August and 28 September 1877. The work was first performed in the Žofín concert hallARTA Records
/ref> in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on 2 December 1877, by the Provisional Theatre rozatímní divadloOrchestra, under conductor Ludevít Procházka.IMSLP
/ref> The occasion was a charity concert to raise money for the construction of a church in Prague's

Smíchov Smíchov () is, since 1922, a district and cadastral area of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History It was only on 22 February 1903, that Smíchov was elevated to ...

district, and, although the audience liked the piece, there was no press coverage of it.Oregon Symphony
/ref> Also, Dvořák's publishers were not interested in the work.
/ref> Doubly discouraged, he put it aside for ten years, concentrating on other projects. In March 1887, under pressure to produce more music, Dvořák revived the work, this time conducting it himself in Prague's

Rudolfinum The Rudolfinum is a building in Prague, Czech Republic. It is designed in the neo-Renaissance style and is situated on Jan Palach Square on the bank of the river Vltava. Since its opening in 1885, it has been associated with music and art. C ...

. The National Theatre Orchestra so pleased him with this second performance that he decided to send the score to the conductor Hans Richter. Richter was delighted with it and immediately included the piece in the programme for his forthcoming English tour. He wrote to the composer on 17 May after the first rehearsal with the Philharmonic Society in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 13 May, ''"I am absolutely carried away. It is a magnificent work! I am so happy to be the first to produce it in London. But why have you held it back so long? These variations should shine in the first rank of your compositions"''. The concert itself later that month was a huge success, and Richter wrote again, ''"At the hundreds of concerts which I have conducted during my life, no ''new'' work has ever had such a success as yours"''. In December 1887,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

was exposed to the ''Symphonic Variations'' for the first time, again with Richter conducting. In the audience were Dvořák and his friend

, who presented the composer with an exquisite cigarette holder to mark the occasion. Now his publisher N. Simrock, which had declined to publish the work ten years earlier, sat up and took notice, but instead of the

opus number In music, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among ...

28 that Dvořák had given it, they published it as opus 78, to suggest a brand new composition. The work has been given number 70 in the Burghauser catalogue. In around 1888, Dvořák arranged the ''Variations'' for piano four-hands, which are listed in the Burghauser catalogue as B. 514. Dvořák's ''Symphonic Variations'' are among the three most frequently played of all sets of orchestral variations, along with Brahms's ''

'' and

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

's ''

''.

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...

's ''Symphonic Variations'' were doubtlessly influenced by Dvořák's example.

Orchestration

The work is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, triangle and strings. It takes about 22 minutes to play.

Structure

The theme is introduced ''Lento e molto tranquillo'' in

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

, then proceeds through 27 variations in various tempi, ending in an ingenious

fugal In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

finale ''Allegro maestoso''. The work remains in C major until Variation 17, moving into

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

for Variation 18,

B major B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equi ...

for Variation 19,

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

for Variations 20–24,

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

for Variations 25 and 26, before returning to C major for the final variation and the finale. It is predominantly in time, but explores for the ''

Scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

'' (Variation 17) and ''Tempo di

valse The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the generic term German ...

'' (Variation 19), and also uses , and in some of the later variations. The final variation and the fugal finale return to .

Recordings

The work has been recorded many times. Currently available recordings include those conducted by

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop (; born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor. She is the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimor ...

Jiří Bělohlávek Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...

Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom ...

Iván Fischer Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Biography Born in Budapest into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother, ...

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

, Stephen Gunzenhauser,

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

, István Kertész,

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. The son of a distinguished violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the a ...

, Theodore Kuchar,

Zdeněk Mácal Zdeněk Mácal (; 8 January 1936 – 25 October 2023) was a Czech conductor who worked internationally. The promising conductor who had won international competitions left his home country of Czechoslovakia in 1968 when the Warsaw Pact ended the ...

, Sir

Charles Mackerras Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...

, Václav Neumann,

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

, Peter Tiboris and

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

.ArkivMusic
/ref>

References

External links

About Symphonic Variations on a comprehensive Dvorak site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symphonic Variations (Dvorak) Compositions by Antonín Dvořák 1887 compositions Variations Compositions for symphony orchestra