Theme and Variations

Theme and Variations The title and text of the theme is pivotal: the theme is "Sweet Adeline," an old song, very romantic but very passé in its language, frequently sung by a kind of vocal group called "barbershop quartet," four men singing in close harmony. It is also often sung by someone doing a parody of a drunken man singing. Because of all these reasons, the song is always quoted in a slightly facetious manner; hence, the "toujours avec une expression grave” [always with a serious expression] handwritten in French at the beginning of the piece by Richard Lane and completed with the drawing of a comic man’s face. Theme and Variations is dedicated to flutist Adelin Tomasone, but written for her husband, David Wetherill, who was co-principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra and before that, solo horn of the Boulez’ Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, and before that, principal horn of La Scala in Milan. Both were studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. David Wetherill performed the piece 1991 on a recital in Provincetown, Massachusetts.