Product Description
Four Variations on a Theme by Handel
Handel wrote the Suite in D minor, HWV 437. The Sarabande is the fourth movement in the suite and is written as a theme with two variations. Generations of keyboard players have studied this piece. It is still listed as a List A (Baroque) selection in the Royal Conservatory Celebration Series (2015). I learned it many years ago and it has always been one of my favourite pieces.
I took the theme from the Sarabande and used it to compose 4 different variations of my own.
Variation 1
Variation 1 turns the feel of the Sarabande into a moody 3/4 waltz that should be played with a touch of rubato (stretched, elastic time) thrown in to give a little bit more abandon.
Variation 2
Variation 2 is written in the style of a military march. It has lots of leaps, accents, full chords, and is a challenge to play at speed.
Variation 3
Variation 3 is a departure from the 3/4 time with a switch into a contemporary, expressive-feeling 4/4 with lots of suspended chords.
Variation 4
Variation 4 continues in the feel of a pulse of 4, this time turned into triplets. (I marked it as 12/8 time just for ease of writing). This variation is different--you can play it quickly in a stormy fashion, or slightly slower like an endlessly flowing river of notes.
Hope you enjoy this piece!
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This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.