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Variation (music)

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(Redirected fromTheme and variations)
Musical form
"Theme and Variations" redirects here. For the ballet by George Balanchine, seeTheme and Variations (ballet).
"Elaboration (music)" redirects here. ForAusarbeiten, seeProlongation.

Schubert's Impromptu in B-flat (D 935) No. 3; theme and variations based on a theme from Schubert'sRosamunde

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Inmusic,variation is aformal technique where material isrepeated in an altered form. The changes may involvemelody,rhythm,harmony,counterpoint,timbre,orchestration or any combination of these.

Variation is often contrasted with musicaldevelopment, which is a slightly different means to the same end. Variation depends uponone type of presentation at a time, while development is carried out upon portions of material treated inmany different presentations and combinations at a time.[1]

Variation techniques

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Mozart'sTwelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (1785), a French folk song known in the English-speaking world as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", exemplifies a number of common variation techniques. Here are the first eight bars of the theme:

Ah je vous dirai maman theme
Ah je vous dirai maman theme, bars 1–8

Melodic variation

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Mozart's first variation decorates and elaborates the plain melodic line:

Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 1
Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 1

Rhythmic variation

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The fifth variation breaks up the steady pulse and createssyncopated off-beats:

Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 5
Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 5

Harmonic variation

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The seventh variation introduces powerful newchords, which replace the simpleharmonies originally implied by the theme with a prolongational series of descending fifths:

Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 7
Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 7

Minor mode

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In the elaborate eighth variation, Mozart changes from the major to the parallelminor mode, while combining three techniques:counterpoint,suspensions andimitation:

Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 8
Ah je vous dirai maman, variation 8

Other examples

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Variation techniques are frequently used within pieces that are not themselves in the form of theme and variations. For example, when the opening two-bar phrase of Chopin'sNocturne in F minor returns later in the piece, it is instantly repeated as an elegant melodic re-working:

Chopin Nocturne in F minor
Phrase and variation from Chopin's Nocturne in F minor[2]

Debussy's piano piece "Reflets dans l'eau" (1905) opens with a sequence of chords:

Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau" opening 2 bars
Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau", opening bars

These chords open out into arpeggios when they return later in the piece:

Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau" varied recapitulation of the opening
Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau", varied recapitulation of the opening

Sometimes melodic variation occurs simultaneously with the original. InBeethoven's"Waldstein" piano sonata, the main second-subject theme of the opening movement, which is insonata form, is heard in the pianist's left hand, while the right hand plays a decorated version. (See alsoheterophony.)

Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata 1st movement, second subject
Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata, 1st movement, bars 204–208

While most variations tend to elaborate on the given theme or idea, there are exceptions. In 1819,Anton Diabelli commissioned Viennese composers to create variations on a waltz that he had composed:

Theme by Anton Diabelli
Theme by Anton Diabelli

Beethoven contributed a mighty set of33 variations on this theme. The thirteenth of these stands out in its seemingly wilful eccentricity and determination to reduce the given material to its bare bones:

Beethoven, Diabelli Variation No. 13
Beethoven, Diabelli Variation No. 13

Wilfrid Mellers describes this variation as "comically disruptive... The original tonal sequence is telescoped, the two-bar sequences being absorbed into thesilences."[3]

In a similar fashion, the first of the 24 variations ofRachmaninoff'sRhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra presents a terse summary ofPaganini's original.

Variations on material originally by other composers

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Main article:List of variations on a theme by another composer

Many composers have taken pieces composed by others as a basis for elaboration.John Dowland's "Lachrimae" was frequently used by other composers as a basis for sets of variations during the 17th century. Composed in 1700, the final movement ofArcangelo Corelli's Violin Sonata Op. 5, No. 9, opens with this rather sparse melodic line:

Corelli, Violin Sonata Op. 5, No. 9
Corelli, Violin Sonata Op. 5, No. 9

Corelli's fellow-composer and former studentFrancesco Geminiani produced a "playing version"[4] as follows:

Corelli, Violin Sonata Op. 5, No. 9, performing version by Geminiani
Corelli, Violin Sonata Op. 5, No. 9, performing version by Geminiani

According toNicholas Cook, in Geminiani's version "all the notes of Corelli's violin line ... are absorbed into a quite new melodic organization. With its characteristic rhythmic pattern, Geminiani's opening is a tune in a way that Corelli's is not... whereas in the original version the first four bars consist of an undifferentiated stream of quarter-notes and make up a single phrase, Geminiani's version has three sequential repetitions of a distinctive one-bar phrase and a contrasted closing phrase, producing a strongly accented down-beat quality."[5]

Jazz arrangers frequently develop variations on themes by other composers. For example,Gil Evans' 1959 arrangement ofGeorge Gershwin's song "Summertime" from the operaPorgy and Bess is an example of variation through changing orchestraltimbre. At the outset, Evans presents a single variation that repeats five times in subtly differing instrumental combinations. These create a compelling background, a constantly-changing sonic tapestry over which trumpeterMiles Davis freely improvises his own set of variations. Wilfrid Mellers (1964) wrote that "[i]t called for an improviser of Davis's kind and quality to explore, through Gil Evans' arrangement, the tender frailty inherent in the 'Summer-time' tune... Between them, solo line and harmonic colour create a music that is at once innocent and tense with apprehension".[6]

Variation form

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Variation forms includeground bass,passacaglia,chaconne, and theme-and-variations.[7] Ground bass, passacaglia and chaconne are typically based on briefostinato motifs providing a repetitive harmonic basis and are also typically continuous evolving structures. Theme-and-variation forms are, however, based specifically on melodic variation, in which the fundamental musical idea, ortheme, is repeated in altered form or accompanied in a different manner. Theme-and-variation structure generally begins with a theme (which is itself sometimes preceded by an introduction), typically between eight and thirty-two bars in length; each variation, particularly in music of the eighteenth century and earlier, will be of the same length and structure as the theme.[8] This form may in part have derived from the practical inventiveness of musicians; "Court dances were long; the tunes which accompanied them were short. Their repetition became intolerably wearisome, and inevitably led the player to indulge in extempore variation and ornament";[9] however, the format of the dance required these variations to maintain the same duration and shape of the tune.

Variation forms can be written as free-standing pieces for solo instruments or ensembles, or can constitute amovement of a larger piece. Most jazz music is structured on a basic pattern of theme and variations.[10]

Examples includeJohn Bull'sSalvator Mundi,Bach'sCanonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her,Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor,ViolinChaconne, and (D minor solo violin suite),Corelli'sLa Folia Variations, Beethoven'sDiabelli Variations, the Finales of hisThird "Eroica" andNinth "Choral" Symphonies, the Finale ofBrahms'sFourth Symphony,Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56,Elgar'sEnigma Variations,Franck'sVariations Symphoniques, andRichard Strauss'sDon Quixote.[11] BothSchubert'sDeath and the Maiden Quartet andTrout Quintet take their titles from his songs used as variation movements.[11]

Chopin'sBerceuse for piano, Op. 57, was first calledVariantes, and consists of 16 continuous variations on a ground bass.

History of variations

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Although the first isolated example emerged in the 14th century, works in theme-and-variation form first emerge in the early sixteenth century.[12] Possibly the earliest published example is thediferencias forvihuela byLuis de Narváez (1538).[8] A favorite form of variations inRenaissance music wasdivisions, a type in which the basic rhythmic beat is successively divided into smaller and smaller values. The basic principle of beginning with simple variations and moving on to more elaborate ones has always been present in the history of the variation form, since it provides a way of giving an overall shape to a variation set, rather than letting it just form an arbitrary sequence.

Keyboard works in variation form were written by a number of 16th-century English composers, includingWilliam Byrd,Hugh Aston andGiles Farnaby. Outstanding examples of earlyBaroque variations are the "ciaccone" ofClaudio Monteverdi andHeinrich Schütz.[13] Two famous variation sets from the Baroque era, both originally written forharpsichord, areGeorge Frideric Handel'sThe Harmonious Blacksmith set, andJohann Sebastian Bach'sGoldberg Variations, BWV 988.

In theClassical era,Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a great number of variations, such as the first movement of hisPiano Sonata in A, K. 331, or the finale of hisClarinet Quintet.Joseph Haydn specialized in sets ofdouble variations, in which two related themes, usually minor and major, are presented and then varied in alternation; outstanding examples are the slow movement of hisSymphony No. 103, theDrumroll, and theVariations in F minor for piano, H XVII:6.[8]

Ludwig van Beethoven wrote many variation sets in his career. Some were independent sets, for instance theDiabelli Variations, Op. 120, and theEroica Variations in E major, Op. 35. Others form single movements or parts of movements in larger works, such as first movement of thePiano Sonata No. 12, Op. 26, or the variations in the final movement of theThird Symphony (Eroica). Variation sets also occur in several of his late works, such as the slow movement of hisString Quartet No. 12, Op. 127, the second movement of his finalPiano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111, and the slow third movement of theNinth Symphony, Op.125.

Franz Schubert wrote five variation sets using his ownlieder as themes. Amongst them is the slow movement of his string quartetDeath and the Maiden D. 810, an intense set of variations on his somber lied (D. 531) of the same title. Schubert'sPiano Quintet in A (The Trout, D. 667) likewise includes variations on his songThe Trout D. 550. The second movement of theFantasie in C major comprises a set of variations onDer Wanderer; indeed the work as a whole takes its popular name from the lied.

In theRomantic era, the variation form was developed further. In 1824,Carl Czerny premiered his Variations for piano and orchestra on the Austrian National HymnGott erhalte Franz der Kaiser, Op. 73.[14]Frédéric Chopin wrote four sets for solo piano, and also theVariations on "La ci darem la mano" fromMozart's operaDon Giovanni, Op. 2, for piano and orchestra (1827).Charles-Valentin Alkan wrote multiple variations in his early works. A further example of the form isFelix Mendelssohn'sVariations sérieuses.

Johannes Brahms wrote a number of sets of variations; some of them rely on themes by older composers, for example theVariations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel (1861; piano), and theVariations on a Theme by Haydn (1873; orchestra). The latter work is believed to be the first set of variations for orchestra alone that was a work in its own right, rather than part of a symphony, suite or other larger work.[15]Karl Goldmark'sRustic Wedding Symphony (1875) starts out with a set of variations as its first movement.Antonín Dvořák'sSymphonic Variations (1877) andEdward Elgar'sEnigma Variations (1899) are other well-known examples.Anton Arensky'sVariations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky (1894) is among his most popular compositions.

Variation sets have also been composed by notable twentieth-century composers, including

An unusual option was taken in 1952 with theVariations on an Elizabethan Theme, a set of six variations on Sellenger's Round for string orchestra, in which each variation was written by a different composer:Lennox Berkeley,Benjamin Britten,Arthur Oldham,Humphrey Searle,Michael Tippett, andWilliam Walton.

Graham Waterhouse composed a trioGestural Variations in 1997 andVariations for Cello Solo in 2019, andHelmut Lachenmann composed a trioSakura-Variationen on the Japanese song in 2000.

A significant sub-set of the above consists ofvariations on a theme by another composer.

Improvised variations

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Skilled musicians can oftenimprovise variations on a theme. This was commonplace in theBaroque era, when theda capo aria, particularly when in slow tempo, required the singer to be able to improvise a variation during the return of the main material. During this period, according to Nicholas Cook, it was often the case that "responsibility for the most highly elaborated stage in the compositional process fell not upon the composer but upon the executant. In their instrumental sonatas composers like Corelli, Geminiani, and Handel sometimes supplied the performer with only the skeleton of the music that was to be played; the ornamentation, which contributes crucially to the music's effect, had to be provided by the performer." Cook cites Geminiani's elaboration of Corelli (see above) as an example of an instance "in which the composer, or a performer, wrote down a version of one of these movements as it was meant to be played."[4]

Musicians of theClassical era also could improvise variations; both Mozart (seeMozart's compositional method) and Beethoven made powerful impressions on their audiences when they improvised. Modern listeners can get a sense of what these improvised variations sounded like by listening to published works that evidently are written transcriptions of improvised performances, in particular Beethoven'sFantasia in G minor, Op. 77,[16] and Mozart'sVariations on an Aria byGluck, K. 455.[17]

Improvisation of elaborate variations on a popular theme is one of the core genres ofjazz. According to William Austin, the practice of jazz musicians "resembles the variations on popular songs composed for the keyboard at the end of the 16th century by Byrd, Bull, Sweelinck and Frescobaldi, more than the cumulative variations of Beethoven and Brahms."[18] Generally, the theme used is stated quite explicitly at the outset. However, some jazz musicians employ a more oblique approach. According to Gamble, "Charlie Parker's performance ofEmbraceable You can be appreciated fully only if we are familiar with the tune, for unlike many jazz performances in which the theme is stated at the beginning, followed by improvisations on the theme, Parker launches almost immediately into improvisation, stating only a fragment of the tune at the end of the piece."[19]Coleman Hawkins' famous interpretation of"Body and Soul" shows a similar approach. "On 11 October 1939, Coleman Hawkins went into New York's RCA studios with an eight-piece band to record the 1930 composition Body and Soul. It was already a favourite among jazz musicians, but nobody had ever played it like this. Pianist Gene Rodgers plays a straight four-bar introduction before Hawkins swoops in, soloing for three minutes without playing a single note of the tune, gliding over the chord changes with such harmonic logic that he ends up inventingbebop."[20]

Improvisation by means of spontaneous variations, ornaments, embellishments and/or alterations to a melody is the basis of most sub-Saharan African music (traditional and pop) extending from melody andharmony to form and rhythmic embellishments.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Wennerstrom 1975.
  2. ^White 1976, p. 63.
  3. ^Mellers 1983, p. 386.
  4. ^abCook 1990, p. 189.
  5. ^Cook 1990, p. 190.
  6. ^Mellers 1964, p. 356.
  7. ^Copland 2002, p. 115.
  8. ^abcSisman 2001.
  9. ^Raymar 1931, p. 5.
  10. ^Hodeir 2006, p. 8.
  11. ^abWhite 1976, p. 64–65.
  12. ^Apel 1962, p. 784.
  13. ^Drebes 1992, p. 25–55.
  14. ^Biba.
  15. ^McCorkle 1976, p. 5.
  16. ^Irmer 1975, p. V–VII.
  17. ^Braunbehrens 1990, p. 198.
  18. ^Austin 1966, p. 185.
  19. ^Gamble 1984, p. 13.
  20. ^Lewis 2011.

References

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Further reading

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  • Ehrhardt, Damien (1998),La variation chez Robert Schumann. Forme et évolution (dissertation Sorbonne 1997), Lille: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion,ISBN 2-284-00573-X
  • Nelson, Robert U. (1948),The Technique of Variation; A Study of the Instrumental Variation from Antonio de Cabezón to Max Reger, University of California Publications in Music, vol. 3, Berkeley: University of California Press

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