Variations on "Happy Birthday" (Fall 2016 Competition Submission)

Here is my entry for the Fall 2016 Competition, a set of 10 variations on the well-known simple theme "Happy Birthday." 

Though I suspect everyone knows this theme, in case you don't here's a link to a version of it.  Just listen to the first 25 seconds or so for the basic theme: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVEmrAilqj8

Thanks for listening and best of luck to all the other entrants!

Well done!

Very nice and interesting.

The coda... would it be playable? It's terrific.

Thank you both for listening!

I think the coda is playable... though admittedly very difficult as I modeled it after Liszt.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of the choice of theme at first, but you did a really wonderful job developing and adapting the melody. I especially liked the initial section in minor -- it sounded a bit like an homage to the 'Moonlight' sonata.

Great work! I'm not sure mine will be able to hold up against yours and others.

On 11/25/2016 at 11:09 AM, Noah Brode said:

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of the choice of theme at first, but you did a really wonderful job developing and adapting the melody. I especially liked the initial section in minor -- it sounded a bit like an homage to the 'Moonlight' sonata.

Great work! I'm not sure mine will be able to hold up against yours and others.

 

You're very kind and very humble.  I think your variations are excellent as well.

Yes, the second variation is a deliberate homage to Beethoven's Moonlight sonata.

Oh wow! These are fantastic! All your variations were well paced and had variety to keep interest. 

I'm not a pianist, so I can't really comment on the technical aspects of it, though it does look a little difficult (to me lol). You should get someone on this site to record it live (*cough* Sonataform *cough*)

Yeah this is very difficult to play, but it's easy to fall in love with. You did a remarkable job with this. I was sure that the choice of theme would result in some boring work but I won't be making that mistake with you again!

On 11/29/2016 at 3:59 PM, KJthesleepdeprived said:

Yeah this is very difficult to play, but it's easy to fall in love with. You did a remarkable job with this. I was sure that the choice of theme would result in some boring work but I won't be making that mistake with you again!

 

Thanks for the kind words!  I look forward to hearing your variations once you finish them.