Variations on "Down on the Volga" for String Orchestra
Variations on a theme from incidental music composed by Alexander Varmalov in 1832 for a play by A.A. Shakhovskoy about - you guessed it - a boatman. The theme itself has an intended folk feel but the first variations are in baroque style; thereafter we join the twentieth century with nods towards various Russian composers. Written for a youth orchestra, so not hard, but fun with a few serious moments.