One Day Wonder #133 (Variation #1)

For 2 horns, 1 trumpet, 2 trombones and tuba.

It immediately became clear that I’d written the theme without a clear idea of how the variations would progress. The whole “piece-a-day” concept precludes a lot of advanced planning, so I don’t really blame myself for my lack of preparation. So how do I show that this is a variation on #132? Oh, I just cherry-picked some intervals and rhythms. That’s it. What came out of it is something I really like. Yeah, OK, the A theme ain’t that great, but the middle part is what makes the piece. That’s why I bring it back at the end. True, the whole thing is pretty taxing on the horns, but I do give them occasional breaks. I’m becoming a little a bit more sensitive to the horns after reading an article by a horn player from the London Symphony. Like any wind instrument, they need to breathe (duh!), but owing to the small size of their mouthpiece, they need a bar or two rest every so often to get the blood circulating back into their lips. OK, I know that it’s a little late in the game for things like this and I should have known about this in the first place. From my Mackris v. O’Reilly experience, I was already aware of some of this (my dirge just about did them in; they play every bar for nearly five minutes), I had just never had it put to me so succinctly. So from now on, horns, I will more conscious of being merciful. Anyhow, I really like this piece from the middle onward, so enjoy!