Chiastic Variations

I wrote this piece back in 2018, when I was still in college. The conceit is that it's a theme and variations with 2 themes, one on each end. The variations are played starting with one theme and ending with the other. To add to the compositional complexity, the piece is reversible: you can start with the other theme, play the variations in reverse order, and end with the first theme. "Variations" should probably be in air quotes - they're really more like microscopic character pieces that use the themes as a jumping off point.

I've given this piece a lot of thought over the years - most people I've shared it with enjoy it, although they disagree about which order is better (which I consider a success ). The most common criticism I've heard is that the individual variations are too short.

I'm curious - what do you all think? I've grown a lot ear-wise since I wrote this piece, even though I haven't written very much since college, but I'm still very happy with it for the most part. I'm thinking of revising the work and expanding some of the sections (e.g. N2, N3, S3) to give them a bit more symmetry. I might also try to get the work published, although I don't expect major publishing houses to be super interested or to get it to a wide audience.

Here is a pair of recordings I made of the piece right after I finished writing most of it, synced with the sheet music. I later added a cadenza to the opening of N1 which is not included in this recording.

Chiastic Variations, Op. 6a

Chiastic Variations, Op. 6b

Hi @stewartIM and welcome to the forum!

I think writing a set of variations on two themes is a really great idea! And writing them so that their order can be reversed is especially ingenious! I listened to both versions and was amazed that there weren't any awkward transitions between variations - perhaps this is because you wrote each variation as a standalone piece of music? If you were tasked with writing them as one smooth and continuous piece of music it would be harder methinks! Also - amazing performance of your own music! Great job playing and recording this piece! My favorite variation was perhaps the Chiasmus: Bleak. Although the Lamentoso variation was especially affecting as well.

Now for some critique! I write a lot of variations and I consider it my life's calling to find themes that nobody has written variations on and write variations on them! In my own composition adventures I usually expect there to be an intensification of the awareness of the theme throughout the variations. When I listen to some of my favorite variations pieces my mind is stimulated by how different they get while still being audibly related to the original theme. In other words, the pieces stimulate the listener to recognize the theme in all it's various new and different forms. But, in your variations, I don't perceive that to happen. Perhaps it's because you're using two themes? Or perhaps your variations don't have as tight of a motivic development as I've come to expect from other favorite variations pieces I've heard? But don't take this the wrong way - I've still enjoyed your music immensely and it is very good! The other critique is that the music in both versions seems to just stop and there's no audible drive to a strong conclusion - this is obviously because the piece can be played backwards and forwards and it would be impossible to accomplish because of that - unless you had two conclusions - one at the beginning and one at the end.

In any case - I enjoyed your music very much and thank you for sharing!