Variations on a Theme from 'The Firebird' by Stravinksy

Hey y'all,

This is something I've been working on for my church's small wind and string ensemble. I used alto recorder at the beginning because the only other winds I have are flutes and I wanted the more mellow sound. Any comments? Throw 'em my way! Thanks! (Please listen with good speakers or earphones. The poor midi quality makes some parts hard to hear the melody.)

I love this theme from The Firebird! It's truly among the most beautiful of Stravinsky's compositions. However, while I understand you want to include Stravinsky's theme in its entirety, most sets of variations begin with a very simple statement of theme--after all, this is your composition now, and it is no longer The Firebird. I felt that in terms of length, harmonic complexity, and instrumentation, the initial statement of theme is much more complicated than your variations. If I were you, I'd try to start simply and elaborate more with each successive variation. I will say, however, that your final variation is quite charming!

Listen to some classic examples of the "Theme and Variations" form for some inspiration. Rachmaninoff has some great ones.