Variations on a Melancholy Theme

Brad Mehldau's Variations on a Melancholy Theme features the pianist/composer and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which commissioned this orchestral version of the work—a theme and eleven variations plus a cadenza and postlude. The album also includes an encore, "Variations 'X' and 'Y.'" "I imagine it as if Brahms woke up one day and had the blues," Mehldau says of the piece, which combines the classical form with jazz harmonies. "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."

• Brad Mehldau (Klavier)
• Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
• Violine
  • Ronnie Bauch
  • Martha Chaplin
  • Laura Frautschi
  • Liang-Ping How
  • Joanna Jenner
  • Renée Jolles
  • Doori Na
  • Todd Phillips
  • Richard Rood
  • Eriko Sato
  • Eric Wyrick
• Viola
  • Maureen Gallagher
  • Christof Huebner
  • Nardo Poy
  • Dov Scheindlin
• Violoncello
  • Claire Bryant
  • Susannah Chapman
  • Melissa Meell
  • Jonathan Spitz
• Kontrabass
  • Gregg August
  • Jordan Frazier
• Querflöte
  • Elizabeth Mann
  • Susan Palma Nidel
• Oboe
  • Matthew Dine
  • Stephen Taylor
• Klarinette
  • Alan Kay
  • Jo-Ann Sternberg
• Waldhorn
  • Julie Landsman
  • Patrick Pridemore
  • Stewart Rose
• Trompete
  • Carl Albach
  • Louis Hanzlik
• Posaune
  • David Taylor
• Kesselpauken
  • Maya Gunji
• Perkussion
  • James Baker
  • Maya Gunji