Inverse Variations on an Appalachian Ballad

The melody at the heart of this piece is the Appalachian Ballad "Barbara Allen." The version used throughout this composition is the version transcribed by Olive Campbell and Cecil Sharp for the 1917 collection "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians." Whereas a tradition theme and variations would initially present the theme and then a series of progressively more elaborate variations on that theme, I decided to begin with the theme broken down into its constituent parts and then gradually pieced together over the course of the composition. The first few variations are explorations of the intervallic content of the ballad, presented both lyrically and in a more pointalistic style. From there, the variations start to more closely resemble the virtuosic variations of the Romantic Era. Drawn by the timbral similarities between the oboe and banjo, the last of these "traditional" variations, which is presented twice, is designed to emulate the ornamentation patterns of bluegrass banjo a la Earl Scruggs, with a few modifications to make the pattern more oboe-friendly. Finally, for the last two variations, the melody is allowed to reveal itself fully, embracing the lyrical and vocal quality of the oboe. "Inverse Variations on an Appalachian Ballad" was commissioned by Dr. Heather Killmeyer.