The Four Temperaments; variations on a theme from Schoenberg’s wind quintet

Brindley, Giles

About the work

This piece takes the first 16 bars of the second movement of Schoenberg’s wind quintet as theme for 4 variations. Each variation represents one of the four temperaments. The first (melancholy) and third (phlegmatic) are mainly serial. The second (choleric) is based on a harmonic minor scale altered by sharpening the 4th degree. The fourth (sanguine) is successively in the Phrygian, Lydian, Aeolian and Dorian modes.

First Performance: Spitalfields Festival, CoMA London 2004

Origin

Call for Pieces entry: Open Score 2004 submission