Australia Fair Variations Op.449

Australia Fair Variations Op.449 for Bb Clarinet & Piano.

About Australia Fair Variations

The Australia Fair Variations is based on the Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia affair. By PD McCormick,(traditional). The work consists of a theme and five variations, each increasing in the level of challenge as the piece progresses.

Structure

Firstly, the work begins with a subtle, harmonic undercurrent that builds using fragments from the theme until it reaches its climax, ready for the clarinet to state the theme.

Variation 1 features the theme outlined by octave leaps.
Then variation 2 uses quaver triplet figures to skip around the melody and the harmonic structure.
Next, variation 3 features a furioso series of semiquaver passages to outline the melody of the theme.
Variation 4 is titled “Gallipoli” and uses an altered, minor-oriented theme to depict the horror, sadness, loss, and drama of this terrible conflict.
Lastly, variation 5 and the Finale of the work displays the soloist’s technical prowess to the fullest as this variation uses a continuous series of semi-quaver sextuplets to outline the melody of the theme.
Given that this variation is such a challenging one, an ossia part has been included to give soloists a choice of parts to perform for this variation.

A variety of performances of accompaniment tracks have been included with this product.

1. A full wind, orchestra performance and backing tracks.
2. Clarinet and piano with a piano backing track.

Clarinet range: E1 to A4 with one instance of a C4.