VARIATIONS
1995

This early experimental work explores compositional methodology through a simple yet delicate framework, centered on transformations of the augmented fourth. Beginning with a single theme (X), the work develops a variation (Y). However, rather than following the traditional variation process, a third variation (Z) emerges—not from the original theme (X) but from the material in Y. These three distinct themes—X, Y, and Z—each serve as the foundation for one of the work’s three movements, where the variation process unfolds anew. The result is three groups of three, forming a total of nine sections—an evolutionary progression stemming from a single musical idea. Variations was first performed at De Montfort University in January 1995, featuring Alex Fleming on clarinet and Simon Siddal on piano.