The year 1982 marked the 250th anniversary of Franz Joseph Haydn's birth, and Edison Denisov decided to make that great composer a tribute of the finest kind. Denisov wrote variations on a canon the composer had written in his old age, and used the same orchestra Haydn had used for his cello concertos. However, Denisov wrote in his own style, and to address his own concerns; the words of the canon, which translate as "Death is a longer sleep, sleep is a shorter death," provoked a searching meditation on mortality. This work is vintage Denisov. The variations begin with a plangent statement of the original theme in the violins and woodwinds, followed by the entry of the solo cello. Soon Denisov launches into a variations style which is recognizably his: although the theme is always audibly present, it is bathed in dissonant harmonies, and there are no clear distinctions (for the most part) between the end of one variation and the start of another. For much of the work, the music becomes steadily more forceful; the cello contributes a frenzied cadenza, the horns occasionally bellow and snarl, and one variation is played entirely pizzicato on the cello, with filigree from the violins which seems to emphasize the attacking cello. Yet the music gradually becomes contemplative, rather than combative. Towards the end, the violins play the canon somberly in their upper register while the cello runs breathlessly over, under, and around their melodic line; the cello seems to be coming to terms with the mortality represented by the canon. After this, the cello states the theme slowly in its lowest register, producing rich, consoling sonorities even as it plays this sad music. Finally, the cello winds its way upward and melts into the violins, and they all play a sustained high note as a bell tolls. This "reaching towards the light" ending is common in Denisov's works, but particularly appropriate here, as it suggests that perhaps there is something to wake up to after the long sleep.

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