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The Seikilos Variations
For Tuba Quartet
Listen to the full piece
Listen to each movement:
1. Introduction and Theme
2. First Variation
3. Second Variation
4. Third Variation
5. Interlude and Theme
6. Fourth Variation
7. Fifth Variation
8. Sixth Variation
The Seikilos Variations is a series of six variations for tuba quartet presented in eight movements. It was commissioned in May 2017 by a student group at UMass Amherst. That group consisted of euphonium players Benjamin Hartmann and Sean Swanton and tuba players Tyler Woodbury and Jillian Gummeson.
This piece is based on the Seikilos epitaph, a song engraved on an ancient Greek tombstone. The epitaph was from Tralles, an ancient Greek city near modern-day Aydin, Turkey. It's the oldest surviving notated musical piece (at about two thousand years). In addition to a song, the epitaph features a poem that loosely translates to the following:
While you're alive, be happy.
Don't worry.
Life is short.
Eventually, we will all die.
I found this moving. Here is a two thousand year old epitaph dedicated to someone we don't know anything about, and the message is about the impermanence of life. I wanted to write music based on this melody, so I did.
I'm grateful to Jillian, Tyler, Sean, and Benjamin for this commission. This is one of my favorite types of commissions; it's an excuse for friends to get together and perform material written for them. I think that's a fun way to make new music.
The audio renderings above were created by computer software. Sheet music for this piece is available to subscribers.
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