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BRAHMS – Main theme from the ‘Saint Anthony Variations’ (1873) – FOUR CELLOS (easy)

Other Identification:
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 in B♭ major based on a “Chorale St Antoni”, eight variations, and a finale.

The work was published in two versions: for two pianos, written first but designated Op.56b; and for orchestra, designated Op.56a. The orchestral version is better known and much more often heard than the two-piano version. The first performance of the orchestral version was given on 2 November 1873 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Brahms’s baton.

Movements or sections:
Brahms composed the work on this theme entitled “Chorale St. Antoni” found in a wind ensemble composition. At the time Brahms discovered it, the wind ensemble piece carried an attribution to the composer Joseph Haydn. Subsequent research has concluded that the wind piece Brahms used as a source does not fit Haydn’s style. Pleyel has been cited as a possible composer. Today the wind ensemble piece remains without clear attribution.

A further question is whether the composer – whoever it was! – of the divertimento actually wrote the “St. Anthony Chorale” or simply quoted, in turn, an older theme taken from an unknown source. To date, no other mention of a “St. Anthony Chorale” has been found. The theme begins with a repeated ten-measure passage which itself consists of two intriguing five-measure phrases, a quirk that is likely to have caught Brahms’s attention.

Instrumentation: QUARTET OF FOUR CELLOS (EASY)
Arranged by David Johnstone

Downloads of 2 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – All individual parts

Approximate difficulty: EASY
The four cello version is transposed into C Major in order to make cello ensemble performance more comfortable. All four parts have interesting contributions. The first part uses the first four positions, whilst the other three are in first position (although with occasional extensions.)

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