There is no sin in classical music in recycling earlier material into new forms. Handel did it, recycling material from his Italian operas into bits of “Messiah”. Beethoven took some country dances, wrote a series of piano variations on them, and then turned them into the finale of his Third Symphony. Here, Frannie takes a tune from his teenage years. He had used it in the Second Symphony he wrote at the choirboys school, used it again in a failed opera, “The Friends from Salamanca” – all his operas failed – and again in a song, “In the Greenwood”. Now he works it out in grand style as theme-and-variations.
If you remember your Professor Publius classes, in theme-and-variation format the only thing that must remain constant is the harmony supporting the melody. Everything else is permitted to change. One variation should be in the opposite mode; in this case it would be the minor.
The theme is in C Major, is marked “andante”, and features wonderful writing for Troyer’s clarinet. It shows a composer in the fullness of his maturity, writing like a young god. There is one part in the theme that is so sentimental you can’t help but go, “Aw!”
Variation #1: At 1:13, the first violin works around the melody.
Variation #2: At 2:27, Troyer’s clarinet part takes over, as he gets a chance to work around the melody.
Variation #3: At 3:36, the horn and clarinet work their magic while the first violin plays filagree around them.
Variation #4: At 5:00, the cello takes a star turn.
Variation #5: At 6:23, things turn dark and serious; this is the minor key variation. While the cello and bass play pizzicato, the strings form one choir and the winds the other.
Variation #6: At 7:32, Frannie turns his ensemble into the organ of a small church. A few months later, in his String Quartet in D minor, he would use this effect to climax his theme-and-variations movement. Here he uses it to change the mood and settle things down.
Variation #7: Frannie saves the best for last. At 9:40, he gives us the babbling brook. No one wrote water music like Schubert.
Coda: At 10:47, Frannie puts it to bed.