Dance Variations on a Theme by Persichetti [1999]
Eighteen variations on a theme taken from the second movement of Vincent Persichetti's Sonata for Solo Cello, with an original harmonization. There are six 'dances' in the piece—minuet, an arabesque, a mazurka, a habanera, a zortziko and a sarabande—and the remaining variations are free and connective, derived in diverse ways from the theme, though less clearly than the dance variations themselves.
The piece contains many hommages to classic piano variations. Every third variation is a 'dance' form, just as every third of Bach's Goldbergs are a canon. A variations of long tones recalls the 'Sphinxes' from Schumann's Carnaval, a tumultuous variation is reminiscent of Rzewski's The People United variations, and the last variation has completely transformed the theme into an elegant Sarabande that recalls Beethoven's transformation of Diabelli's theme into an elegant aria.
performances
Sung Hu Nam, pno. ; NewNowNorse Festival, Northern Kentucky University (March 2011)
Gloria Chuang, pno. ; Appleton, WI (February 2011)
Jess Salek, pno. ; Madison, WI (November 2002)