℗ 2021 Nonesuch Records Inc.
| Released | April 13, 2021 |
| Duration | 34m 00s |
| Record Label | Nonesuch |
| Genre | Jazz |
Variations on a Melancholy Theme
Brad Mehldau, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Available in MQA and 96 kHz / 24-bit AIFF, FLAC high resolution audio formats
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1.1
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Theme
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
2:11 | |||
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1.2
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Variation 1
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
2:18 | |||
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1.3
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Variation 2
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
1:59 | |||
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1.4
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Variation 3
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
1:25 | |||
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1.5
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Variation 4
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
1:29 | |||
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1.6
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Variation 5
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
0:44 | |||
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1.7
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Variation 6
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
0:50 | |||
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1.8
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Variation 7
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
2:12 | |||
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1.9
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Variation 8
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
2:41 | |||
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1.10
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Variation 9
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
0:51 | |||
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1.11
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Variation 10
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
1:05 | |||
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1.12
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Variation 11
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
3:57 | |||
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1.13
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Cadenza
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
1:57 | |||
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1.14
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Postlude
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
6:29 | |||
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Encore
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1.15
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Variations "X" & "Y"
Brad Mehldau; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
3:52 | |||
Brad Mehldau’s Variations on a Melancholy Theme is released on Nonesuch Records. The recording features the pianist/composer and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which commissioned this orchestral version of the work, which comprises a theme and eleven variations plus a cadenza and postlude; the album also includes an encore, “Variations ‘X’ and ‘Y.’” (Mehldau originally composed Variations on a Melancholy Theme for pianist Kirill Gerstein.) Mehldau and Orpheus toured Europe, Russia, and the US with the piece, including a 2013 performance at Carnegie Hall. Speaking to the combination of classical form with jazz harmonies in the work’s musical language, Mehldau wrote, “I imagine it as if Brahms woke up one day and had the blues.”
Mehldau continues, “The theme itself has a wistful character, perhaps a feeling of resignation. There is some sense of finality and ending to it when heard for the first time already. So as I composed, a narrative challenge emerged; namely, how to embark on a story that begins with a conclusion. While the theme evokes melancholy, I let it be used as a springboard for other happy, wild, violent, and reckless emotions as the variations progress.”
96 kHz / 24-bit PCM – Nonesuch Studio Masters
| Track title | Peak (dB FS) | RMS (dB FS) | LUFS (integrated) | DR | |
Album average Range of values | -1.59 -7.63 to -1.00 | -19.19 -25.48 to -14.27 | -15.54 -22.20 to -11.00 | 10 7 to 13 | |
| 1 | Theme | -2.06 | -23.17 | -20.3 | 12 |
| 2 | Variation 1 | -1.00 | -18.32 | -15.1 | 10 |
| 3 | Variation 2 | -1.00 | -17.20 | -14.3 | 9 |
| 4 | Variation 3 | -1.00 | -14.27 | -11.0 | 7 |
| 5 | Variation 4 | -1.00 | -15.48 | -12.3 | 7 |
| 6 | Variation 5 | -1.00 | -17.70 | -14.2 | 10 |
| 7 | Variation 6 | -1.00 | -17.91 | -13.4 | 11 |
| 8 | Variation 7 | -1.00 | -22.29 | -18.2 | 13 |
| 9 | Variation 8 | -1.00 | -16.91 | -11.8 | 7 |
| 10 | Variation 9 | -7.63 | -25.48 | -22.2 | 11 |
| 11 | Variation 10 | -2.14 | -25.21 | -19.8 | 12 |
| 12 | Variation 11 | -1.00 | -17.76 | -14.5 | 9 |
| 13 | Cadenza | -1.00 | -20.54 | -17.7 | 13 |
| 14 | Postlude | -1.00 | -18.14 | -14.1 | 9 |
| 15 | Variations "X" & "Y" | -1.00 | -17.49 | -14.2 | 11 |