Obscure Music Monday: Tovey's Aria and Variations

Sir Donald Francis Tovey (July 19, 1875 - July 10, 1940) was a British musicologist, composer, conductor, and pianist. He was privately tutored as a child, and showed great musical talent, which was nurtured under the guidance of Sophie Weisse, a music teacher from Scotland. Through her he met many musicians, and enjoyed a career as a pianist.

Tovey secured a professorship at the University of Edinburgh, and spent a great deal of time writing musical essays, program notes, and creating performing editions of various works by Bach and Beethoven. His composing took a backseat to academic duties, but his output included concertos, chamber works, operas, sonatas and more.

One of his works for string quartet, Aria and Variations, was written around 1900, and clocks in around a healthy thirty minutes. The opening section is tender and beautiful, and though the form of aria and variations is taken from the Baroque era, Tovey's writing is wholly modernized. The variations that follow the opening theme are delightful and varied in myriad of ways, and point to Tovey's brilliance. It's an incredibly enjoyable listen!