Air Varié de Vive Henry IV by Julia Piston (PDF)

Air varié de Vive Henry IV by Julia Piston (c.1800-1842) for classical guitar. Also called Variations sur L’air Vive Henri IV. PDF Sheet Music for classical guitar. Comes with both a notation edition with left hand fingering and a separate tab edition. Late-Intermediate to Early-Advanced depending on tempos, Grade 8-9.

The theme presents an old French song followed by five variations. The majority of the work is intermediate but there are a few tricky passages in variation three and five. Fingering is editorial as the original has none except for some position marks. Also, much of this work was written in one voice so my edition is partially editorial in the lower voice in regards to sustain since I write it in a modern multi-voice texture.

Big thanks to Canadian guitarist Emma Rush for introducing me to this work. Check out her excellent video of this piece on her YouTube or below and her recording on the album Wake the Sigh. Below is my YouTube video followed by Emma Rush.