1. Violin Sonata Op 5 No 12 "La Folia" by Corelli (1700)
"La Folia" (Folly or Madness) is one of the oldest European musical themes, originating as a dance in the mid or late fifteenth century throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Over the course of three centuries, more than 150 composers have used it in their works. Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1672, Arcangelo Corelli in 1700, Marin Marais in 1701, Alessandro Scarlatti in 1710, Antonio Vivaldi in his Opus 1 no. 12 of 1705, Francesco Geminiani in his Concerto Grosso no. 12 (which was actually part of a collection of direct transcriptions of Corelli's violin sonatas), George Frideric Handel in the Sarabande of his Keyboard Suite in D Minor of 1727, and Johann Sebastian Bach in his Peasants' Cantata of 1742 are considered to have brilliantly emphasized this repeating theme and its variations, to name just a few. The flexibility of the theme to incorporate and adapt features of new musical styles is amazing, and may have been essential to its longevity. On top of that it fits to a variety of instruments on which it can be played in a most natural way.
Listen to: The Four Nations Ensemble, Olivier Brault violin
2. Goldberg Variations by Bach (1741)
The work consists of 30 variations, beginning with a single aria. After an hour of transforming the music with different time signatures, textures, and harmonies, the beautiful first aria returns - as the listener has then heard the melody transformed in countless ways, the simplicity of the original music is nothing short of mesmerizing.
The following legend has been attached to the Goldberg Variations. Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlinck was having trouble sleeping and asked Bach for some pleasant music to pass the time, to be played by Keyserlinck's harpsichord prodigy, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg. But Bach probably had himself in mind, rather than the thirteen-year-old pupil of his son Wilhelm Friedemann, when he composed what is considered to be the best constructed and most expressive set of variations of the Baroque era. The name "Goldberg Variations" did not come from Bach himself. He called it an "Aria with variations for emotional relief." The work was published as the fourth part of Bach's encyclopedic Clavier-Übung.
Listen to: Jean Rondeau for All of Bach
3. Twelve Variations on "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman!" by Mozart (1782)
Listen to: Alberto Lodoletti, piano
4. Andante and Variations in F minor by Haydn (1793)
Haydn's Variations in F minor (Hob. XVII:6), written in 1793, is one of the composer's last piano works, along with the three London sonatas. Arranged as a double set of variations, it is one of Haydn's most popular piano pieces, and its emotionally expressive character and virtuosic conclusion have made it a staple of the pianist's repertoire. Joseph Haydn uses two themes as the basis for the variations. This means that the work belongs to the type of double variations. The first theme is in the key of F minor and the second in the key of F major. At the beginning, Haydn presents the themes one after the other. He then varies them twice, alternating each time. The variations end with the first ending in F major, after which a large coda also in F major concludes the piece.
Listen to: Davide Scarabottolo
5. Diabelli Variations by Beethoven (1823)
At the beginning of 1819, the Viennese music publisher and composer Anton Diabelli had a curious business idea: he invited a number of well-known contemporary composers from all over Austria and Bohemia to write a variation on a waltz theme of his own, which would then be published as an anthology by his music publishing company. Fifty musicians responded to Diabelli's call, including Carl Czerny, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ignaz Moscheles, Conradin Kreutzer, Franz Xaver Mozart, Franz Schubert, and the young Franz Liszt.
Beethoven was also supposed to contribute a piece, but he was neither enthusiastic about the idea of the collaborative project nor about the compositional quality of the Diabelli theme. He told the publisher that he would be happy to work on the theme alone for 40 ducats. Diabelli even offered him twice as much if he wrote more than seven variations, but Beethoven did much more - in 1823, he delivered a complete cycle with "33 variations". Diabelli was so enthusiastic about Beethoven's work that he had his cycle of variations published separately.
Listen to: Daviid Korevaar
6. Le Festin d’Ésope (Aesop’s Feast) by Alkan (1857)
Le festin d'Ésope (Aesop's Feast) is the last étude in the series Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs (Twelve Studies in All Minor Keys), Op. 39, published in 1857. It is a work of twenty-five variations based on an original theme in E minor. The technical skills required in the variations are a summation of the preceding études. The work requires exceptional virtuosity, with extremely fast overlapping octaves, fast scales with left-hand accompaniment, enormous leaps, fast octave chords, tremolos, double octaves, and trills.
Regarding the title: according to legend, Xanthus asked his slave Aesop to prepare a feast with all kinds of food. At the feast, however, all the guests were served tongue, which, Aesop explained, contained every kind of human knowledge and emotion. This story itself can be interpreted as a parable of the variation form.
Listen to: Yeol Eum Son
7. Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Brahms (1873)
The opening of Brahms' Haydn Variation is an exact transcription from an Esterhaza manuscript of woodwind pieces attributed to Haydn (though not actually by him!). As the variation progresses, the "Haydn character" diminishes and the "Brahms character" increases. But the contrapuntal pastiche of earlier times remains with us to the end, with a typical Brahmsian delight in the Baroque rhythmic play known as the hemiola. The final movement is a Passacaglia. These highly innovative variations were Brahms's final training ground before the publication of his First Symphony, and their success in 1873 must have encouraged him to feel that he could finally risk the big step from the more sheltered works of the brilliant chamber composer into the arena of public music.
Listen to: Blomstedt | Concertgebouworkest
8. Symphonic Variations for orchestra by Dvořák (1877)
Antonín Dvořák's Symphonic Variations on the Theme "I am a Fiddler" for Orchestra, Op. 78, were written in 1877. They are played fairly frequently, much like Johannes Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn and Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations. The work is said to have been a response to a friend's challenge to write variations on a theme that seemed impossible for that purpose. Dvořák chose the third of his series of three songs for unaccompanied male voices, which is in ternary form, with phrase lengths of 7, 6, and 7 bars. Far from being impossible as a subject for variations, the theme proved to be exceptionally well suited for this purpose.
Listen to: The Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Hattner
9. Symphonic Variations by Parry (1897)
Hubert Parry's inventive set of 27 symphonic variations was much admired by Tovey, Joachim and Elgar. It is an effective orchestral tour de force, comparable to Brahms's Haydn Variations. The symphonic structure implied in the sonata-like divisions of tempo and key gave Parry the opportunity to explore and expand his technical resources. The result is a minor classic.
Argovia philharmonic, Douglas Bostock, conductor
10. “Enigma” Variations by Elgar (1899)
Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra, Op. 36 (Enigma), better known as the Enigma Variations, is an orchestral work consisting of a musical theme and fourteen variations composed by Edward Elgar in 1898-1899. It is one of Elgar's best-known large-scale works, not only because of the music, but also because of the mystery surrounding it. Elgar dedicated the piece to "my friends depicted in it", a reference to the fact that each variation is a musical portrait of someone from his circle of friends (and including his dog!).
With this work, Elgar not only made his breakthrough as a composer, but also put British music back on the international map after several centuries.
The work consists of a theme followed by 14 variations. The variations are derived from melodic, harmonic and rhythmic elements of the theme. The last part is not actually a variation, but a finale in which Elgar repeated two variations: variation numbers 9 and 1, dedicated to his friend Jaeger and his wife Alice respectively. Elgar did this because he owed them both a great deal, both as an artist and as a person. This finale was also given a variation number because Elgar did not want to end with the unlucky number 13.
Elgar's musical portraits depict their subjects on two different levels, as was common in painted portraiture at the time. In addition to a general musical impression of the sitter's personality, several variations contain musical references to a specific character trait or event, such as Dorabella's stutter, Winifred Norbury's laugh, and the conversation during the walk with Jaeger.
Listen to: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Stanislav Kochanovsky, conductor
11. Variations for Orchestra by Steinberg (1906)
https://youtu.be/NIU2WlsxLLs?si=yq4NOn8x4iAo71oj
12. Variations on a Nursery Tune for piano and orchestra by Dohnányi (1914)
After a dramatic introduction, the theme – Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star – is introduced, followed by eleven variations on it, including a waltz and a more serious passacaglia.
Dohnányi alludes to many different works, or composers' distinctive compositional styles, in the piece. For instance, variation 8 suggests the march from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" Symphony. Debussy is alluded to, with the ethereal harmonies of the 11th variation. Dohnányi pokes fun at nearly every composer his audience of 1914 would have been familiar with.
The work made Dohnányi famous, particularly in England and North America.
For another discussion of this piece, see my article "Best Piano Concertos from the Twentieth Century: Part One (1904-1932)".
Listen to: Filharmóniai Társaság conducted by Dénes István with Fejes Krisztina, piano
13. Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart by Reger (1914)
Composed between May and July 1914 in Berchtesgaden and Meiningen, it was premiered on January 8, 1915 in Wiesbaden by the municipal spa orchestra under the direction of the composer. The theme is presented first by the woodwinds, then by the strings and finally together. The fugue adopts the original key of A major and the original 6/8 time, starting in the strings. Flute and oboe present a second fugal theme, so that after the second fugue has been played, the movement develops into an increasingly intense double fugue as it progresses. The climax is the combination of both fugue themes with the resumption of the Mozart theme in the trumpets, which brings the work to a majestic end with a full orchestra.
Listen to: hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Peter Eötvös:
14. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra by Rachmaninoff (1934)
This work is discussed in my "Best Piano Concertos of the Twentieth Century Part Two", so I refer to that article.
Listen to: Anna Fedorova [piano] and the Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Gerard Oskamp [conductor]
15. Variations on a Theme by Hindemith by Walton (1963)
Variations on a Theme by Hindemith is an orchestral piece in eleven continuous sections, first performed in 1963. It is a tribute to Walton's friend and fellow composer Paul Hindemith. William Walton's friendship with Paul Hindemith dated from 1923 when the two had met at the Salzburg Festival. In 1929 Hindemith did Walton a great service when he played the solo part in the premiere of the latter's Viola Concerto, stepping in at short notice to replace the intended soloist, Lionel Tertis. From the mid-1950s Walton contemplated a work to salute his friend, and a suitable opportunity arose in 1962, with a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Society in London for an orchestral work to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Walton chose to write a set of variations on a theme from Hindemith's 1940 Cello Concerto, and dedicated the work to the Hindemiths – Paul and his wife, Gertrud. The theme is from the opening of the slow movement of the Hindemith Cello Concerto, a slow lyrical passage marked Ruhig bewegt. Unusually for a set of variations, the theme is not a short individual melody but 36 consecutive bars – "not a tune, nor even a theme, but a paragraph". Hindemith was delighted with the Variations, and called the work "a half-hour of sheer enjoyment", and Walton said to Benjamin Britten in 1964 that he thought the piece one of his best. The musical scholar Christopher Palmer has called the piece "perhaps the finest of all Walton's post-war orchestral works", the composer's biographer Michael Kennedy ranks it as one of Walton's finest works of any period of his career, and in 2017 the critic Robert Matthew-Walker called it "arguably Walton's most refined masterpiece."
https://youtu.be/sF-XRHkppRs?si=QF4_y__25-i21Z3d
See for another take on "Theme and Variations" music: 10 ESSENTIAL “THEME and VARIATIONS” Pieces for BEGINNERS by Dave Hurwitz of Classics Today:
[This article incorporates some text from the relevant English, Dutch and German Wikipedia articles, as well as from the liner notes of the relevant CDs]