Variations On ‘Trockne Blumen’ D.802

Just as in his “Trout” Quintet (D 667), “Wanderer” Fantasy (D 760), and string quartet “Death and the Maiden” (D 810), in the flute variations on “Trockne Blumen” (D 802) Franz Schubert employs one of his songs as the thematic basis of an instrumental composition. “Trockne Blumen” (Dried Flowers) is the eighteenth song from the cycle “Die schöne Müllerin” (D 795), composed in autumn 1823. In January 1824, before publication of all of the Müller songs that summer, the Theme and Variations in E minor for flute and piano were written, prefaced by a weighty introductory section. The work remains Schubert’s single and singular virtuoso composition for flautists: tremendouslydifficult for the flute to play, and, incidentally, sometimes very tricky for the piano to “accompany.” Schubert’s much-reworked autograph manuscript is the sole authoritative source for our Urtext, as it demonstrably served as the engraver’s copy for the posthumously published first edition. One of the variations he crossed out entirely – the Henle Urtext edition reproduces it, more for informational purposes than for performance, in the appendix.