musical variation

musical variation, basic music technique consisting of changing the music melodically, harmonically, or contrapuntally. The simplest variation type is the variation set. In this form of composition, two or more sections are based on the same musical material, which is treated with different variational techniques in each section.

In Renaissance vocal music there were two principal variation techniques: contrapuntal variations following the stanzas of strophic chants; and sets of variations over a single, often quite lengthy, foundation voice in a mass or motet. In instrumental music a quite different sort of variation began to appear, one of great significance for following eras. Some of the earliest preserved instrumental music consists of dances, often in sets of two, with the second based on the same melody as the first but in a different tempo and metre.

In the early 1600s, the first years of the Baroque era, composers became increasingly enamoured of constructing works over brief, incessantly repeated melodic figures in the lowest voice of the piece. Composers of this time became more and more attracted to the unfolding of rich, flowery, expressive melodic lines over such basses. Variations over a bass were the most popular and important type of variation in the Baroque era, but composers continued to write other kinds as well. In J.S. Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations the lengthy theme (16 + 16 measures) is followed by 30 variations before a return to a simple reprise of the original air. The variations use a wide range of different metres and tempos. This composition is generally regarded as one of the true monuments of figural-contrapuntal variation.

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A common feature of all variation types is the element of static structure, harmonically and tonally. A melody, a bass pattern, or a harmonic sequence is stated, then repeated, always in the same key or mode, usually with the same length and the same phrase and harmonic contours. Variety and climax are achieved by contrast in number of voices and texture, by the richness and complexity of melodic figuration, sometimes by changes in metre and tempo. In the mid-18th century, a major change of concept in musical structure took place. Composers became increasingly concerned with harmonic and tonal goal orientation. A composition should begin and end in the same tonality, or key. More importantly, the other keys were arranged in a hierarchy, according to the strength of their relation to one another. A composition should move from the original, or tonic, key through a series of keys. The resulting feeling of tonal movement gives a direction and forward thrust to the piece until it finally reaches the dominant key (a fifth above the tonic and the tonality with the strongest, most compulsive relationship to the tonic), where it dwells for a time before it finally goes back “home” to the tonic.

Variations for solo instruments continued to be written; familiar examples are Felix Mendelssohn’s Variations serieuses and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. But the two most important new directions for variation in the Classical-Romantic period were, first, toward what might be best called “ensemble variation,” variations utilized as one movement in a multimovement chamber or orchestral work; and second, toward free variation, in which the theme is handled in a much freer manner than before.

Joseph Haydn was the first major figure to write numerous, successful, and well-known examples of ensemble variations. Instances occur in his Sonata for Violin and Piano in C Major and as the final movement of his Hornsignal Symphony in D major. W.A. Mozart’s ensemble variations tend to be melodic variations. Examples occur in the Sonata in F Major for Violin and Piano and the Clarinet Quintet. Franz Schubert used his song “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”) as the basis for melodic variations in his Piano Quintet in A Major (Trout Quintet).

But the two composers of the period who most frequently used variation techniques and adapted them most successfully to the sometimes contradictory demands of the musical style of their day were Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. The last movement of the Ninth Symphony illustrates Beethoven’s originality and freedom in handling variation form. Among his finest variations are those in the Third Symphony (Eroica), in the Piano Sonata in C Minor, Opus 111, and in the String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132. Brahms is more retrospective in his treatment of variation forms. Even when the theme is varied greatly he usually maintains its basic structure.

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The very late 19th century and first half of the 20th century saw some additions to the variation repertory, but, beyond the technique of free variation, there developed no striking new technique or techniques. Free variation maintains the melodic relationship between theme and variations by developing small motives from the theme or transforming the theme itself by rhythmic or other changes. But the single major innovation in the technique of variation during this period developed in the works of Arnold Schoenberg and the composers who studied or were associated with him. Their most important contribution is the 12-tone, or serial, technique, which is based on the concept that a 12-tone row (a specific ordering of the 12 tones of the chromatic scale) forms the entire basis for the organization of a composition. This original row of tones may appear at original pitch or transposed to any other pitch; it may be inverted (played upside down, with rising intervals changed to descending ones and vice versa) or presented backward; it may be used to create melodies or harmonies or combinations of both; it may be fragmented. Any piece written with this technique may be considered to be a continuing set of variations on a 12-tone row.

Performers as well as composers provide musical variation. During the Baroque era a basic singing skill was the ability to ornament and embroider a melody, to add brilliant and expressive figures, runs, and trills to the tune sketched out by the composer. Performers were judged as much for their skill in embellishment as for the beauty of their voice, and each performer strove to bring a personal style to his embellishment. The most popular vocal form of the late Baroque, the da capo aria, has a first section, a second section contrasting in melody and sometimes key and tempo, then an exact repetition of the first section, which provided a showcase for the singer’s ability to elaborate. Jazz is another style that emphasizes performance variation. The genius of the greatest jazz musicians shows up in their technical skill and imaginative taste in bringing a very personal style of variation to whatever they are performing.

The music of certain non-Western cultures uses variational techniques that are often different from and more organic than those in Western music.

The art music of southern India, for example, is built on the concept of a string of pieces, each a variation on a given “theme.” Together they make a complete musical structure. The “theme” in this case is a raga. Conceptually more complex than a theme in Western music, the raga consists of a particular scale pattern, various melodic formulas, and melodic relationships and fragments peculiar to this raga.

A somewhat different concept of multilevel variation is found in the gamelan (orchestra) music of Indonesia. The variations are not consecutive but are simultaneous, with certain members of the orchestra improvising their own variations at the same time on the same tune. This technique, called heterophony, results in a highly complex static concept of variation, vertically organized into layers of sound.