Introduction, Theme and Variations

Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born 29 February 1792 in Pesaro (then the Papal States) and died 13 November 1868 in Passy, a suburb of Paris. An Italian composer and conductor of the late Classical and early Romantic eras, he is chiefly famous for his 39 operas — including The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, Semiramide, and William Tell — and for marking the zenith of the bel canto style: singer-dominated agility and long, florid phrasing. That bel canto, opera-rooted sensibility is precisely what a clarinetist must project in the Introduction, Theme and Variations.

Teaching note: Two different Rossini clarinet-and-orchestra variation sets are frequently confused. This resource concerns the B-flat major Introduction, Theme and Variations (c. 1819, on opera themes). It should not be confused with Rossini’s earlier student-era C-major Variazioni per clarinetto e piccola orchestra (c. 1809).

Composed around 1819 (IMSLP: “1819 ca.”), first published in 1822 by Cipriani in Florence. The exact date of composition and premiere remain uncertain — “shrouded in obscurity.” Dedicated to Alessandro Abate, “professore di clarinetto,” a Naples clarinet professor who served as principal at Teatro La Munizione in Messina (1815–1816).

The Introduction draws on the Act II aria “La pace mia smarrita” from Mosè in Egitto (1818); the Theme comes from “Oh quante lagrime” / “Oh quante lacrime” from La donna del lago (1819). Original instrumentation: solo B-flat clarinet with orchestra — flute, 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, and strings. Today it is popular in both orchestral and clarinet-and-piano reduction formats; a concert-band arrangement also exists.

This is a genuinely debated attribution, and teachers should present it honestly. Jack Brymer’s 1976 book Clarinet called it “Brilliant. Probably not by Rossini,” reading a manuscript marked “Andante di Rossini” as meaning Rossini wrote only the tune. Charles Neidich states there is “no evidence that Rossini … wrote the work,” that it is not listed in scholarly catalogues of Rossini’s works, and that a surviving florid clarinet manuscript is “definitely not in Rossini’s hand.” He notes the two arias are definitely by Rossini and suggests a Naples clarinet-composer such as Ferdinando Sebastiani as a possible author.

Competing theories include: (1) a student of Rossini embellished genuine themes; (2) a secondary composer wrote variations for a publisher who attributed them to the famous name; (3) Rossini collaborated with a clarinetist. Dieter Klöcker suggested possible collaboration with Girolamo Salieri or Iwan Müller but conceded there are no sources. As early as 1968, Mario Fabbri argued the work is original based on a letter to Rossini by Ferdinando Giorgetti — conclusions that underpin later commentary cited by Albert Rice.

Bottom line for teachers (Neidich): “in the end the authorship is not so important. It is a brilliant work which combines affect and virtuosity in a way worthy of the best operatic arrangements of the 19th century.” A BBC Classical Music review similarly calls it “unauthenticated, even if making entertaining use of melodies from Rossini operas.”