Is there a genre such as expanding existing musical works in the same style? Something like covers, but more serious. For example, we take Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” and compose something in which you can sense a kinship, exploiting the same theme, but still a standalone piece that wouldn’t be a shame to include in a playlist or concert alongside Gershwin’s original. Covers are still the same piece, just translated into a slightly different language. Listening to the same piece in various covers consecutively — that’s not the same as experiencing reinterpretations, continuations, or sequels.
Here is an example from literature. There is “The Tale of Fedot the Daring Fellow” by Filatov, written in 1985. There is “The Tale of Yegor, the Tsar’s Support, Son of Fedot the Daring Fellow,” written by Andrey Averyanov in the same style, and it’s a standalone piece, very good, by the way. Although opinions vary. But that’s actually a good thing. The second piece is not a cover of the first.
I wonder why this is not a frequent occurrence in instrumental music? For instance, there is Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” and Brahms’s “Variations on a Theme by Paganini,” where the basis is Nicolò Paganini’s 24th Caprice (you’ve all heard it). That right there is a very good example. But for some reason, there is little of this sort.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 