Variations

It is the first Lunch Hour Concert of the year, in the Elder Hall. Pliny is there with her mum. Kristian Chong will be playing variations by Brahms and Rachmaninov, and a modern piece called Toccata DNA, on the piano.

Pliny looks up. She sees the old familiar backs of heads from previous years. The man who once had a 3 inch long hair sticking horizontally out of his right ear; the man who always looks as though he is sitting in a stiff breeze; the bald man with the pitted skull; the woman who might be Mrs Bull if only she would turn around; the man in the red jumper; the mermaid with thin ginger hair.

The Brahms begins. Pliny likes variations. You know where you are with variations, she thinks. There is a theme, and then there are the variations. They are like the theme, but different. You don't need to worry that you're missing something, or wonder if it's meant to be about joy, or despair, or the properties of water.

Some people have gone to sleep already. They know where they are with variations.

Now Kristian is up to the Toccata DNA. This is a modern take on variations. It is about DNA replication and the consequences of slight changes in the double helix. What a clever piece of programming. Everyone is awake again now.

The Rachmaninov starts off with a waltz. Pliny has forgotten this too is going to be a set of variations. She tries hard not to miss anything. She tries to determine whether or not it is about water. She does not remember until much later, when she is walking home, and gets the programme out to read while she is waiting at the lights.