# Variations, a celebration



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I love this form, especially in its standalone incarnations. Orchestral, piano, whatever. Passacaglias and chaconnes included! What are your favorites?


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

I love the Reger "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Johann Adam Hiller". The Ginastera "Variaciones Concertantes" and Walton's "Variations on a Theme by Hindemith" are quite good too

Also I think the best American 20th century proponent of variations was Norman Dello Joio. Here's his Variants on a Medieval Tune (aka Good Christian Men Rejoice)


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My 3 favorites are Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and the Brahms Variations and Fugue on theme by Handel.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Listened to this classic earlier today:






The one that started it all (for me):






I've enjoyed these lately:






Something completely different:






I'm a big fan of the form too. There's a lot you can do with it.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

From the 20th century, I admit to a weakness for Britten's variations on Purcell.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Mozart: Twelve Variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star K300e/265
Mozart: Variations in G K454a/460
Hummel: Op. 102 Introduction and Variations in F
Chopin: Variations on "La ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni, Op. 2
Chopin: Variations brillantes on "Je vends des Scapulaires" from Herold's Ludovic, Op. 12
Chopin: Variations in A "Souvenir de Paganini"
Chopin: Introduction, Theme et Variations sur un air venitien in D for piano 4-hands
Schumann: Abegg Variations, Op. 1
Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Started thinking about this a couple of days ago, listening to Dvorak's Symphonic Variations for Large Orchestra. What a tremendous work!


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

I like these other Brahms variations as long as they're not played too leisurely, and it's hard to find a performance that isn't. There should be something lively about it or the opening theme can be a soporific.






Nice performance of the Händel Variations, a work that's been previously mentioned:


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

"Variations II to VI are what Girdlestone and Hutchings independently describe as "double" variations. Within each variation, each of the eight-measure phrases from the theme is further varied upon its repeat ( Ax Ay Bx By )"





Beethoven piano sonata No.12 in A flat major Op.26 first movement





Liszt - Paganini Etude No. 6





Mozart Serenade for Winds in C minor K.388 fourth movement




String Quartet No. 15 in D minor K. 421, Mvt. 4





P.I.Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor, Op.50





Haydn String Quartet Op 20/4 - un poco adagio e affettuoso





Schumann Symphonic Etudes


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Where to begin? 
( In no particular order)

Walton - Variations on a theme of Hindemith
Dohnanyi - Variations on a Nursery Theme
Tchaikovsky - Suite #3 - 4th movement - Theme and Variations
Tchaikovsky - Suite #4 - 4th movement - Theme and Variations
Vaughan Williams - Symphony #8 - 1st movement - Fantasia - Variazioni senze tema 
Bliss - Meditations on a theme of John Blow
Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber 
Franck - Symphonic Variations
Kodaly - Peacock Variations
Lutoslawski - Symphonic Variations
Respighi - Metamorphoseon
Braga Santos - Symphonic Variations on a popular song from the Alentejo

...where to stop?


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Some of my favorites are these:

Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini
Britten - Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge
Respighi - Metamorphoseon Modi XII
Reger - Variations and Fugue on a theme by Hiller
Beethoven - Variations on a theme by Diabelli
Strauss - Don Quixote
Kodály - Peacock Variations
Vaughan Williams - Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
Stanford - Variations for piano and orchestra on an English Theme
Nielsen - Prelude, Theme and Variations for violin solo, Op. 48
d'Indy - Istar - Symphonic variations
Dohnanyi - Variations for piano and orchestra on a nursery theme
Elgar - Enigma Variations


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## Schoenberg (Oct 15, 2018)

Since chaconnes are included it would be a crime to leave out Bach's second partita.
For the piano the obvious variations are the Goldberg variations and the Diabelli variations.
Another place to look is the Beethoven sonatas, many of them contain a movement that is in theme and variation form, even if not explicitly stated.
For orchestra one of my favourites for a very long time is Elgar's Enigma Variations.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Is there a set of variations that has a more leisurely theme than Beethoven's Op. 127, 2nd movement?


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

KenOC said:


> I love this form, especially in its standalone incarnations. Orchestral, piano, whatever. Passacaglias and chaconnes included! What are your favorites?


The more I listen, the more I feel that Mozart was really very good at these.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Becca said:


> Where to begin?
> ( In no particular order)
> 
> Walton - Variations on a theme of Hindemith


This is a personal favorite I almost never see mentioned. Szell's recording is electric and one of my favorite recordings of any piece:


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I really like the form, as well. How about this


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Let me mention two early sets of variations, all rewarding to hear for me


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

I enjoy Froberger's elegant and inventive variations on a popular melody:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I love them wherever I hear them, but of the composers who used variation form frequently I especially like those by Beethoven, Hindemith and Reger.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Schoenberg - Variations for Orchestra, Op 31
M. Gould - Jekyll and Hyde Variations
Elgar - Enigma Vars.
Dohnanyi - Variations on a Nursery Song


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Finales of Eroica, Brahms Fourth, Vaughan Williams Fifth.
Third movement of Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto.
Any variations in late Beethoven (Opp 109, 111, 127, 131, Diabelli, etc)
All the various variations on the famous Paganini theme
All the aforementioned (except Britten/Bridge, which for some reason doesn't wear well with me)
Also I don't like the various variations and other concoctions on B-A-C-H, which I think is an ugly theme that no one would otherwise choose if ir weren't for the connotations.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Beethoven 9 third movement is variation form and so is last movement of Mozart Piano concerto 24


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## rice (Mar 23, 2017)

Horowitz's variation on a theme of Bizet's Carmen is a nice playful piece of the gypsy dance scene. I like the 'pianism' in that. 

Also, Cziffra made quite a few crazy virtuoso variations/transcription (I don't know the diff. Transcription is more like "re-orchestrate" but variations are new compositions based on themes?) like the famous Brahms hungarian dance no.5 and rimsky-korsakov's flight of the bumblebee. Very exciting and dazzling. 

Ginzburg made a piano transcription of the song "Largo al factotum" from the famous Rossini's opera Il barbiere di Siviglia and it's fantastic.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Franz Schmidt was a master of the variation. 





And so was Arensky:





And this one by Rimsky-Korsakov is so little known. Too bad he didn't score it for orchestra:


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

Sir Arthur Bliss's 'Meditations on a Theme by John Blow' is a 34 minute set of variations - or 'meditations' - for full orchestra which also reference Psalm 23. A most beautiful work, criminally under-performed unfortunately, but there is a good Naxos CD available.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I am partial to Rachmaninoff's _Corelli Variations._ (As well as so many of the other noted T and Vs; such a great form!)


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

One set of variations I like is "26 Variations on La Folia di Spagna" by Peter Shaffer's bad boy Antonio Salieri.


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated! has become one of my favorite examples of the form.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

David Phillips said:


> Sir Arthur Bliss's 'Meditations on a Theme by John Blow' is a 34 minute set of variations - or 'meditations' - for full orchestra which also reference Psalm 23. A most beautiful work, criminally under-performed unfortunately


Yes, it is really good. I have an old EMI CD...maybe Handley conducting


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

David Phillips said:


> Sir Arthur Bliss's 'Meditations on a Theme by John Blow' is a 34 minute set of variations - or 'meditations' - for full orchestra which also reference Psalm 23. A most beautiful work, criminally under-performed unfortunately, but there is a good Naxos CD available.


I mentioned that in my list. There is a better than good CD available by Vernon Handley and the CBSO.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

There are a lot of movements in larger works that are essentially Theme and Variations. Just two examples would be the slow movement of Beethoven Kruetzer Sonata, and the last movement of Brahms Fourth Symphony.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Perhaps I missed them above but two major British masterpieces for strings - Vaughan Williams' Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis and Tippett's Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli - should both be celebrated.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Some may find it primitive, but I think the conceptualization and execution here are rock solid.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Alfacharger said:


> One set of variations I like is "26 Variations on La Folia di Spagna" by Peter Shaffer's bad boy Antonio Salieri.


I believe this is the earliest extant set of standalone variations for full orchestra without a dedicated solo instrument, written about 1815. That honor is often given to Brahms' Haydn Variations, but this is of course much earlier. There is also an earlier similar effort by the 12-year old Cesar Franck (his Op. 5, about 1835) but I've never heard it. Has anybody?


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## OperaChic (Aug 26, 2015)

Triplets said:


> There are a lot of movements in larger works that are essentially Theme and Variations. Just two examples would be the slow movement of Beethoven Kruetzer Sonata, and the last movement of Brahms Fourth Symphony.


I especially like Prokofiev's theme and variations in the second movement of the second symphony and the middle movement of the third piano concerto.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

"Hats off gentlemen, a genius." -Robert Schumann


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

RICK RIEKERT said:


> Some may find it primitive, but I think the conceptualization and execution here are rock solid.


Crazy wonderful.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

"Alla stripteasamente"! Can't recall seeing that before. But a great set of variations!!


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Both Glazunov and Dohnanyi in particular are superb in variational forms. For instances:


Glazunov: Symphony no. VI (2nd movement "Tema et variations")
Glazunov: Theme and Variations for Strings, op. 97
Glazunov: Theme et Variations for piano, op. 72
Dohnanyi: Variations on a Nursery Theme (for piano and orchestra)
Dohnanyi: Symphony no. I (finale "Tema et variations")
Dohnanyi: Suite in F (1st movement "andante con variazione")
And then


Tchaikovsky: Suite no. III (4th movement "Theme and Variations")
Bax: Symphonic Variations (for piano and orchestra)
Franck: Symphonic Variations (for piano and orchestra)
Kodaly: Peacock Variations: 
Artur Kapp: Symphony no. I (3rd movement)
Gliere: Symphony no. II (3rd movement)
Myaskovsky: Violin Sonata (1st movement)
Parry: Symphony no. III (finale)
Ostrcil: Calvary Variations
Strauss: Don Quixote (for cello and orchestra)


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## arnerich (Aug 19, 2016)

Recently I composed lullaby for piano trio. I wrote it for my baby daughter and used variation form. Hope you enjoy it!


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## Common Listener (Apr 6, 2019)

Larkenfield said:


> I like these other Brahms variations as long as they're not played too leisurely, and it's hard to find a performance that isn't. There should be something lively about it or the opening theme can be a soporific.


Brahms' "Haydn" Variations is one of my favorite pieces and very uplifting but, while that had a certain smoothness (though maybe flat audio on the youtube clip), I like Harnoncourt's approach much better. Faster, bolder, more dynamic.






(I need to scour youtube for all the versions I can find to see what's really the very best, at least of what they've got.)


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Funnily enough, to this point I have found the Brahms (one of my favourite composers) Handel variations to be very boring: I tried it again -this time in concert- with my Mother (who also loves Brahms) recently, who also found herself needing to try hard to stay awake. Don't know what it is with us 

I bring this up because I _love_ his Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, which is much more obscure compared to the celebrated Handel variations. I really like the early Schumann set (Op. 9) as well.

One of my favourite sets of variations -another rather obscure one- is Liszt's Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen variations: I think it's one of his finest works, a tremendously effective outpouring of despair after the death of two of his children (in a three year stretch) and other difficulties in his life:


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I'm no fan of Corelli's music, but he sparked two of the very best t&v works:
Tippett's Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, and Rachmaninoff's Corelli Variations.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

Lisztian said:


> Funnily enough, to this point I have found the Brahms (one of my favourite composers) Handel variations to be very boring: I tried it again -this time in concert- with my Mother (who also loves Brahms) recently, who also found herself needing to try hard to stay awake. Don't know what it is with us
> 
> I bring this up because I _love_ his Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, which is much more obscure compared to the celebrated Handel variations. I really like the early Schumann set (Op. 9) as well.
> 
> One of my favourite sets of variations -another rather obscure one- is Liszt's Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen variations: I think it's one of his finest works, a tremendously effective outpouring of despair after the death of two of his children (in a three year stretch) and other difficulties in his life:


Who have you heard play the Handel variations? If you haven't tried Perahia, I'd recommend it.

Also, I am going to second the other Brahms works that you mentioned (I'll also add the Paganini variations, the aforementioned Handel variations, and the Haydn variations) and Liszt's "Weinen Klagen Sorgen Zagen" (it's one of my favorite works by him, and deserves to be much better known!).


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

It has been fun to explore some variations. Maybe you'll enjoy them, too ...

Martinu: Variations on a Slovak Folk Song (cello and piano)





Martinu: Rossini Variations (cello and piano)





Rossini: Une larme - Theme et Variations (cello and piano)





Rochberg: Caprice Variations (for solo violin)





Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses (piano)





Höller: Sweelinck Variations (for orchestra)





Glinka: Variations on Alyabyev's Song "The Nightingale" (piano)





Tansman: Variations on a theme of Frescobaldi (orchestra)





Tansman: Variations on a Theme by Scriabin (guitar)





Mompou: Variations on a Theme by Chopin (piano)





Salonen: LA Variations (for orchestra)





Anton Reicha: Variations for bassoon and string quartet





Braunfels: Fantastic Appearances of a Theme by Hector Berlioz (for orchestra)





Blacher: Paganini Variations for orchestra)





Mystery Variations on the chiacona by Giuseppe Combini
(by various composers, for example: Kaipainen, Dusapin, Saariaho, Lindberg et al.) (cello)





Havergal Brian: Fantastic Variations on an Old Rhyme (orchestra)





Krenek: George Washington Variations (piano)





Alan Shulman: Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra)





Mozart: Variations on a French Folk Song (misnamed: "Hélas, j'ai perdu mon amant", correct: "Au bord d'une fontaine") (here: for viola and piano)





Rozsa: Theme, Variations and Finale (orchestra) [short spoken introduction; music begins after 2 min.]





Messiaen: Theme and Variations (for violin and piano)


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