Happy Birthday, Alan!
Instrumentation: cello quartet (or cello orchestra)
Duration: 7 minutes
Commissioned by Eleanor Lee and the Harris Event Committee 2026
Duration: 7 minutes
Commissioned by Eleanor Lee and the Harris Event Committee 2026
Program Note:
To Alan Harris, in celebration of his 90th birthday.
This set of variations takes the familiar melody of “Happy Birthday” on a tour through the cello repertoire. References to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major appear throughout, joined by a few playful detours. The theme begins with “Happy Birthday” harmonized in the style of a Bach chorale. The first variation spins small motives from the tune into more animated material. The second variation ventures into the jazz-inflected world of Claude Bolling’s Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio, while the third borrows the rhythms and darker humor of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. The fourth variation returns to Bach more directly, reshaping the birthday tune as a sarabande inspired by the fourth suite. The finale mixes the bounce of a gigue with the momentum of a tarantella, ending in a pirate-themed dash to the finish.
Together, the variations celebrate both the expressive range of the cello and a milestone birthday worthy of its own musical tribute.
To Alan Harris, in celebration of his 90th birthday.
This set of variations takes the familiar melody of “Happy Birthday” on a tour through the cello repertoire. References to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major appear throughout, joined by a few playful detours. The theme begins with “Happy Birthday” harmonized in the style of a Bach chorale. The first variation spins small motives from the tune into more animated material. The second variation ventures into the jazz-inflected world of Claude Bolling’s Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio, while the third borrows the rhythms and darker humor of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. The fourth variation returns to Bach more directly, reshaping the birthday tune as a sarabande inspired by the fourth suite. The finale mixes the bounce of a gigue with the momentum of a tarantella, ending in a pirate-themed dash to the finish.
Together, the variations celebrate both the expressive range of the cello and a milestone birthday worthy of its own musical tribute.