ANDANTINOWITHVARIATIONSforms the middle movement of a so-called 'Symphony on French themes,' composed originally for pianoforte duet. It has been admirably laid out for Military Band by Gerrard Williams , so that none need guess that Schubert did not intend it to be played in that interesting way.
The theme is a very simple one ; horns and cornets play it first, in four short phrases. Wood-winds have the first merry variation largely in their hands, and the second is in a rollicking figure which the basses open. The third is very lively and dainty, with flutes again to the fore, and the fourth is slower and with a hint of solemnity in its movement. It is worked out more fully than the others, and much use is made of a little figure which appears at the beginning of it in the basses." The movement is rounded off by a simple return of the theme from the beginning.