When music lovers hear the name Arnold Schoenberg, many think of his twelve-tone system of composition "sweeping away" tonality and replacing it with abstract, abstruse music without melody—or much else to grasp hold of. The true face of the composer's music, however, is more complicated. Schoenberg always retained a respect for traditional disciplines, famously noting, "[t]here is still much good music to be written in C major."

When anti-Semitism swept across Europe in the 1930s, Schoenberg was forced to emigrate to America, and it seems that the sunny climate of Southern California allowed him to reconcile himself somewhat with tonality and the Romantic tradition. The Theme and Variations for wind band, Op. 43a (1943) is one of the signal products of Schoenberg's "American" period. He undertook the work at the request of his American publisher, G. Schirmer, Inc., which claimed, in Schoenberg's words, that "the great number of [wind bands] had an important influence on the development of love for music in America, but unfortunately there are only a small number of good original compositions available." The firm apparently asked for a piece which would satisfy bandleaders, who wanted "as many different characters and moods in one piece as possible." The Theme and Variations was thought to be too difficult for high school bands at the time; Schoenberg transcribed it for orchestra, in which form it received its premiere, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitsky in 1944. The original version was finally premiered by the Goldman Band under its leader, Richard Franko Goldman, in 1946. Since that time, it has become a staple of the wind band repertoire.

The opening theme is based on a seven-tone set; the aural effect is that of a nicely sculpted, minor mode march, played mostly on brass with occasional percussion spicing. The seven variations, which follow one another without pause, explore the ensemble's varied sonic palette, from sinuous legato figurations to almost jazzy fanfares to quiet, finely calibrated combinations of woodwinds. Schoenberg reserves the full force of a tutti for the finale, which features extravagant swirls of brass and emphatic percussion; it is music that almost could have come from a film score. Lucidly orchestrated, intelligent, and, at times, verifiably crowd-pleasing, the Theme and Variations has gained acceptance as a masterpiece of its kind.

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