Description
Theme & Variations for Piano Trio Op.459 (“Napoleon’s Defeat”)
Napoleon’s Defeat-Audio Performance
Level: Advanced
Theme & Variations for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 459 (“Napoleon’s Defeat”) Theme & Variations for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 459-Napoleon’s Defeat was first sketched in 2011 and inspired by reading about the Battle of Waterloo—the decisive conflict that marked the beginning of the end for the legendary, self-appointed Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte. The work was revised in 2013 and again in 2020, with the final version completed and published in January 2026.
This work is conceived as a collage of moods and tonal colours, reflecting the drama, action, and ultimate futility of war. Alongside these darker elements, more elusive qualities—love, passion, humour, and irony—emerge from time to time. Structurally, the work follows a theme and variations form. A clearly defined main theme is restated, developed, and transformed through harmonic and melodic devices, changes of tempo, and contrasting textures. The theme itself is fashioned to resemble a simple French folk song, set in a minor key rather than the major-key melodies more typically associated with the eighteenth century.
Napoleon’s Defeat-The Variations
The cello introduces the doloroso, melancholy-tinged theme in its low register, before being joined by the clarinet and piano. The clarinet supports and at times echoes the cello’s material, carefully avoiding distraction from the central melodic idea.
The first variation presents the theme sweetly and tenderly in the clarinet, gently accompanied by the cello and piano. This variation depicts a ship far out at sea, gliding across calm waters and bound for adventure.
The second variation begins as a fugue in the piano, after which a defiant and confident cello takes up the theme, supported by clarinet and piano. Here, the work’s militaristic character first emerges through a marching, stomping ostinato.
In the third variation, the clarinet and cello sing out in triumph with trills and heavily arpeggiated triplet figures, while the piano proudly states the theme in the left hand.
Variation four quickens the pace and heightens the drama and intensity of the work, while maintaining a strong and defiant presentation of the theme in the clarinet. The cello and piano playfully engage in a series of interconnecting arpeggios.
Variation five features the theme in double time in the cello, accompanied by the clarinet and piano in flowing semiquaver passages and flourishes.
The sixth variation returns to the sombre minor mode and slower tempo of the opening, though now the theme is presented with greater confidence and a sense of hard-won triumph. Suddenly, the music comes to a dead stop—a seemingly perfect end to both the work and its narrative. In a final, unexpected turn, the heavens open and the spirits of the fallen warriors descend, making one last attempt to claim victory.
This product comes with clarinet in B♭, cello and piano parts as well as a mp3 performance & backing tracks
Duration: circa 6 mins
