Page 147 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

table 8.3 Theme and Variations Form
Statement Variation 1 Variation 2 Variation 3 Variation 4 of theme
A A1 A2 A3 A4
Figure 8.6
Henri Matisse’s classically inspired series of bronze sculp- tures of the head of his model, Jeannette Vaderin, executed
in 1910, allows us to visual-
ize the process of theme and variations. The image becomes progressively more distant from the original as we move left to right.<
For theme and variations to work, the theme must be well known or easy to remember. Traditionally, composers have chosen to vary folksongs and, es- pecially, patriotic songs, such as “God Save the King” (Beethoven) or “America” (Ives). Such tunes are popular in part because they are simple, and this, too, is an advantage for the composer. Melodies that are spare and uncluttered can more easily be dressed in new musical clothing.
Broadly speaking, a musical variation can be effected in either of two ways: (1) by changing the theme itself, or (2) by changing the context around that theme (the accompaniment). Sometimes, these two techniques are used simultaneously. The two examples that follow—one by Mozart and one by Haydn—illustrate a number of techniques for varying a melody and its context. In a set of variations, whether in the fine arts or music, the farther one moves from the initial theme, the more obscure it becomes (see Matisse’s sculptures in Figure 8.6). For the listener, the primary task is to keep track of the tune as it is altered in increasingly complex ways.
Mozart: Variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle,
Little Star” (c. 1781)
In the Classical period, it was common for a composer/pianist to improvise in concert a set of variations on a well-known tune, perhaps one requested spon- taneously by the audience. Contemporary reports tell us that Mozart was espe- cially skilled in this art of on-the-spot variation. In the early 1780s, Mozart wrote down a set of such improvised variations built on the French folksong “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman,” the melody of which we know today as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” (see Listening Cue). With a tune as well known as this, it is easy to follow the melody, even as it becomes increasingly ornamented and its accom- paniment altered in the course of twelve variations. (Only the first eight bars of
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