Khan Variations is a musical composition for 5 octave marimba written by Alejandro Viñao in 2001.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] Khan Variations has been recorded by a number of artists and was featured on the album Percussive Counterpoint by Svet Stoyanov.[4]