Four Selected Variations on a Slovenian Folk Tune

The Fantasia is one of the more commonly used forms by composers of classical music.  Themes can be original or “borrowed” from another composer’s work, folk tunes or similar source.  One to many subsequent variations are then used to expand on the theme with changes of rhythm, harmonies, keys or contrapuntal elements. 

The Fantasia on a Slovenian Folk Song (published as Opus 46) consist of 10 variations based on a Folk Song from the Eastern region of Slovenia. The composer heard this song sung by a mezzo-soprano at the American Slovenian Education Foundation banquet in January 2018. The folk tune is a 16-bar gypsy melody. The folk tune is similar to Dvorak’s “Songs my Mother Taught Me” who may have utilized the melody of the gypsy melody in this composition.

The current composition states the melody as a theme to which 4 selected variations from the Opus 46 work are crafted. The song has been used at Slovenian country weddings and the words are as follows:

Slovenian (Wedding) Folk Song

Zreilo je žito (The Grain is Ripe)

Zrejlo je žito, je žuta slama, (The grain is ripe, the straw is yellow,)

Žalostna dekla, kaj nimaš luboga. (Sad girl why don’t you have a beloved,)

E, sedi ta, sedi lastvkca ti, (Sit down you swallow next to me,)

Nasloni se luba, na mo pleča ti. (Rest my dear on my shoulders.)

Zrejlo je žito, je žuta slama, (The grain is ripe the straw is yellow,)

Zrejlo je zelje, žuto je lišce. (The cabbage is ripe, the leaves are yellow,)

Zrejla je pšenica, žuta je slama, (The wheat is ripe, the straw is yellow,)

Zrejla je pšenica, žuta je slama. (The wheat is ripe, the straw is yellow.)


The composer has labeled each variation to reflect the emotional tone of the variation in light of the theme and country of the folk song. The Variations have been labeled in Slovenian with translation in the table below:

Variation - Slovenian Title - English Title

Intro - Uvod - Introduction
Var 1 - Ljudska pesem - Folk Song
Var 2 - Zasanjanost - Reverie
Var 3 - Pogrebni marec - Funeral March
Var 4 - Apoteoza in pohod - Apotheosis and March
Coda - Glasbena Koda - Musical Coda

The original piece was written from 08 March 2018 to 10 October 2020.