Variations in the Key of A2 will take you on an exciting and educational journey through the world of theme and variations, with music from the past two hundred years. The concert will present music with all types of themes and variations: part of a symphony from the Classical Period by Franz Joseph Haydn, part of a symphony from the Classical/Romantic Period by Ludwig van Beethoven (and you’ll learn why his music fell between the two musical periods), 20th Century English music by Benjamin Britten, 20th Century Hungarian music from Ernst von Dohnányi, and 20th Century American music from Lucien Cailliet and Charles Ives. Across these times and places, you’ll get to explore how different composers used different instruments, styles and tools to compose a series of pieces, or variations, based on a main theme or themes.
Theme and Variation is one of the most popular forms of music used by composers. It is a form in which a theme is followed by a series of pieces, or variations, with the same tune but presented differently. In each variation, some parts stay constant, while others change. The theme may be one that is composed especially for the piece, such as in the excerpt from Haydn’s Symphony No. 94, whichthat you will hear on the Youth Concert program. Other times, the composer may "borrow" an old familiar favorite, such as in Ives’ Variations on America, which is also on the Youth Concert program.
There are many elements of music that a composer can use to vary, or change, the theme when writing a set of variations. Some of these include style, key signature, meter, dynamics, rhythm, and instrumentation. As you study each of the pieces on the Youth Concert program, you will learn more about these and other musical elements, and how composers use them to shape the piece. There are also projects and activities for you to complete to help you gain a better understanding of what the music is all about!
There will be a special element to this year’s Youth Concert. Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is often performed with narration throughout the piece. We have invited some special guest narrators to join us for this year’s Youth Concert, but you’ll have to wait for the concert to find out who they are!
This year marks the eleventh year of Daytime Youth Concerts performed by your Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. We’re delighted that you’ll be joining us for this special symphonic experience, performed live in the historic Michigan Theater! Here’s the concert program:
Click on each selection for detailed information on the piece and the composer. These sections require Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have it installed on your computer, or just want the latest version, you can get it here:
WARNING! - some of the pdf files are quite large and can take a number of minutes to download, especially with a 56k phone modem. Please be patient.
Plus, our own special "Young Person's Guide" to attending a concert.
and a section on General Musical Terms and Concepts.
We hope you enjoy preparing for the concert. We’ll be enjoying preparing the music on our end, too. See you at the Symphony!
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Ann Arbor Symphony
220 E Huron St., Suite 470
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
(734) 994-4801
