This was the first written of the Wind Quartet having been written as a separate piece in 1998 and the rest in 2004. Variation 5 is, of course, a 12-tone piece and the style is used satirically here. Part of Variation 6 is "prequoted" in the first movement. The finale is a sort of "marriage" between Shostakovich and Mendelssohn though maybe more of a "shotgun" wedding.;-)
