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2 unusual facts about Variations on an Elizabethan Theme


Variations on an Elizabethan Theme

The new sequence of eight variations was given its premiere by the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Paul Watkins, in the Cadogan Hall, London, on the afternoon of 24 August 2013.

As part of the 2013 season of The Proms, two more variations were commissioned by the BBC from John Woolrich and Tansy Davies, being inserted in that order before Walton's concluding variation.


Arthur Oldham

In 1952, after Edmund Rubbra pulled out of the project, Oldham provided a variation for Variations on an Elizabethan Theme, a collaborative work with other contributions by Lennox Berkeley, Britten, Imogen Holst, Humphrey Searle, Michael Tippett and William Walton.

La guirlande de Campra

Benjamin Britten attended the premiere, and it gave him the idea of commissioning several composers to contribute to a set of Variations on an Elizabethan Theme to celebrate the forthcoming coronation of Elizabeth II, for which he was also writing his opera Gloriana.


see also