Norman Dello Joio's Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn

Here is a classic of the band repertoire that I hope you'll have a chance to play someday. Dello Joio's inspiration was the main theme from the finale of Haydn's String Quartet in F Major, op. 74, number 2. Haydn also arranged this same piece for piano. First listen to this performance of the piano arrangement.



Now, here is the Dello Joio work performed by a high school group. As you listen, think about what Dello Joio himself says in his score notes: "This work for band is based on a theme from a composition for piano by Joseph Haydn. The subtly conceived theme, I concluded, offered an opportunity to fantasize in the musical language of today (1968). The three movements are a constantly varied examination of Haydn's basic idea. The bubbling humor of the first and third fantasies flank a second, which is intensely lyric."