Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine conducted by Andrew Penny.
I - Theme. Andante (0:00) - Variation I. Allegro molto (2:33) - Variation II. Con moto e espressione (3:48) - Variation III. Allegro vivace (6:44) - Variation IV. Lento (10:14)
Brian's "Fantastic Variations" was composed in 1907, initially conceived as the first movement of "A Fantastic Symphony": a satirical, quasi-programmatical symphony based on the well-known nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". The symphony was finished in 1908, but by July 1909 he had recasted it into a three-movement work titled "Humorous Legend on Three Blind Mice". Later on he decided to publish the first and last movements as separate works: "Fantastic Variations on an Old Rhyme" and "Festal Dance".
The two middle parts of the piece as a symphony (a scherzo and slow movement) became lost with time. The second movement was intended as a scherzo for pizzicato strings, depicting the souls of the departed mice going to heaven and the third movement was a Lament for the dead mice. "Festal Dance" depicted the wild dance of triumph of the farmer's wife in which passing references to the tune can be heard. In 1912, Brian revised the piece, apparently cutting some material considered crude by the composer in a letter to his friend Granville Bantock. It was published in 1914, but not premiered until April 28 of 1921, performed as a "condensed version" by the Brighton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Lyell-Tayler.
It was first performed in its full version in Bournemouth on January 25 of 1923, performed by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra conducted by Sir Dan Godfrey. Brian provided a programme for the piece: a bare-bones plot involving the three blind mice, the farmer's wife, and the policeman who woos her. Of all the early works, the variations most comprehensively anticipate future trends in his style. The compression, the unexpected power and intensity, the virtuosic use of the whole orchestra, collectively and individually, at extremes of technique and range, strongly anticipate some of the one-movement symphonies of the 1950s. Effectively, it is as much a symphonic movement as a set of pictorial variations. The nursery rhyme goes as follows (in modern English):
"Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?"
The work begins with a deliberately simple main theme, which is an abbreviation of the popular nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". It is followed by a lyrical second theme on violas and cellos, intended to represent the farmer's wife. The first variations is the first of two "chase sequences", in which an extraordinary and hilarious tuba solo bellows its way through scurrying woodwind and strings. It represents the wife chasing the mice. An imposing Lento variation follows, which grows in sensuality and grandeur until a second chase breaks out. It apparently represents the policeman seducing the farmer's wife.
Suddenly horns and side-drum strike in, and the chase is abruptly resumed in the third variation. Finally, the Nemesis of capture intervenes: the allegro collides with an augmentation of the "Three Blind Mice" theme on full orchestra, leading to a wrathful climax. According to a programme, this violent gesture represents the execution of the mice by the farmer's wife. Tremolo basses and timpani strokes lead to the finale, the nursery-rhyme tune appearing for the last time in the manner of a chorale before the resplendent final bars. It is unquestionably a requiem for the mice, but such is Brian’s skill that the music treads a precise knife-edge between parody and real valedictory intensity.
Picture: "Three Blind Mice... See How They Run" (1910) by Scottish illustrator Anne Anderson.
Sources: tinyurl.com/2f877jam and tinyurl.com/2ej5hvao
Unfortunately, the score is not available.
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine conducted by Andrew Penny.
I - Theme. Andante (0:00) - Variation I. Allegro molto (2:33) - Variation II. Con moto e espressione (3:48) - Variation III. Allegro vivace (6:44) - Variation IV. Lento (10:14)
Brian's "Fantastic Variations" was composed in 1907, initially conceived as the first movement of "A Fantastic Symphony": a satirical, quasi-programmatical symphony based on the well-known nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". The symphony was finished in 1908, but by July 1909 he had recasted it into a three-movement work titled "Humorous Legend on Three Blind Mice". Later on he decided to publish the first and last movements as separate works: "Fantastic Variations on an Old Rhyme" and "Festal Dance".
The two middle parts of the piece as a symphony (a scherzo and slow movement) became lost with time. The second movement was intended as a scherzo for pizzicato strings, depicting the souls of the departed mice going to heaven and the third movement was a Lament for the dead mice. "Festal Dance" depicted the wild dance of triumph of the farmer's wife in which passing references to the tune can be heard. In 1912, Brian revised the piece, apparently cutting some material considered crude by the composer in a letter to his friend Granville Bantock. It was published in 1914, but not premiered until April 28 of 1921, performed as a "condensed version" by the Brighton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Lyell-Tayler.
It was first performed in its full version in Bournemouth on January 25 of 1923, performed by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra conducted by Sir Dan Godfrey. Brian provided a programme for the piece: a bare-bones plot involving the three blind mice, the farmer's wife, and the policeman who woos her. Of all the early works, the variations most comprehensively anticipate future trends in his style. The compression, the unexpected power and intensity, the virtuosic use of the whole orchestra, collectively and individually, at extremes of technique and range, strongly anticipate some of the one-movement symphonies of the 1950s. Effectively, it is as much a symphonic movement as a set of pictorial variations. The nursery rhyme goes as follows (in modern English):
"Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?"
The work begins with a deliberately simple main theme, which is an abbreviation of the popular nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". It is followed by a lyrical second theme on violas and cellos, intended to represent the farmer's wife. The first variations is the first of two "chase sequences", in which an extraordinary and hilarious tuba solo bellows its way through scurrying woodwind and strings. It represents the wife chasing the mice. An imposing Lento variation follows, which grows in sensuality and grandeur until a second chase breaks out. It apparently represents the policeman seducing the farmer's wife.
Suddenly horns and side-drum strike in, and the chase is abruptly resumed in the third variation. Finally, the Nemesis of capture intervenes: the allegro collides with an augmentation of the "Three Blind Mice" theme on full orchestra, leading to a wrathful climax. According to a programme, this violent gesture represents the execution of the mice by the farmer's wife. Tremolo basses and timpani strokes lead to the finale, the nursery-rhyme tune appearing for the last time in the manner of a chorale before the resplendent final bars. It is unquestionably a requiem for the mice, but such is Brian’s skill that the music treads a precise knife-edge between parody and real valedictory intensity.
Picture: "Three Blind Mice... See How They Run" (1910) by Scottish illustrator Anne Anderson.
Sources: tinyurl.com/2f877jam and tinyurl.com/2ej5hvao
Unfortunately, the score is not available.
