{{Short description|2001 marimba composition by Alejandro Viñao}} {{italic title}} '''''Khan Variations''''' is a musical composition for 5 octave marimba written by Alejandro Viñao in 2001.<ref>{{Cite book |url= |title=The Cambridge Companion to Percussion |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-107-09345-4 |editor-last=Hartenberger |editor-first=Russell |location= |pages=51 |oclc=920816078}}</ref> The piece was commissioned by twelve percussion educators, including Michael Burritt, Nancy Zeltsman, Robert van Sice, and Gordon Stout. It is structured as an uninterrupted set of 8 rhythmic variations lasting approximately 10 minutes and is considered one of the most challenging works in the marimba repertoire, both from a technical and musical point of view.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Roberts |first=John Francis |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28467/ |type=DMA dissertation |title=The Khan Variations for Solo Marimba by Alejandro Viñao: Musical Analysis and Performance Practice |date=May 2010 |publisher=University of North Texas |oclc=928055428}}</ref>
The piece has featured in the repertoire of many international marimba competitions such as the International Marimba Competition, the Taiwan Marimba Competition, and the Percussive Arts Society marimba competition.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=The Multilayered Complexity in Alejandro Viñao's Khan Variations |last=Elek |first=Petra |date=May 2019 |type=DMA dissertation |publisher=California State University, Long Beach |url=https://core.ac.uk/display/323403277 |oclc=1129456626}}</ref> ''Khan Variations'' has been recorded by a number of artists and was featured on the album ''Percussive Counterpoint'' by Svet Stoyanov.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lange |first=Art |date=May–June 2010 |title=Percussive Counterpoint |magazine=Fanfare |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=128–129 |quote=My favorite, however, was Alejandro Viñao's Khan Variations, a twisting series of melismatic variations based on a Qawwali theme [...]}}</ref>
==References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XtjaeevflA Performance] by Ian Rosenbaum as part of the Marimba Literature Library by Vic Firth
Category:Pitched percussion instruments Category:21st-century classical music Category:Compositions for marimba