Variations sur un thème original en Ré majeur Op. 21 n°1

About this work

The original theme of Op. 21 No. 1 moves through D major with measured breadth: Poco larghetto, molto espressivo e legato. Its melody seems calm, yet bass and inner parts already prepare the shifts that feed eleven variations. Written in 1857, the work is less a display piece than a sustained investigation of one harmonic network.

Early variations alter the accompaniment and the position of the foreground. The fifth becomes a canon in contrary motion; later sections quicken the surface, pass through Andante con moto and Allegro non troppo, then return to Tempo di tema. The theme never wholly disappears. It is often recognised in a cadence, bass line or phrase length rather than in melody alone.

Learn the bass of the theme separately and locate it again in every variation. Practise both lines of the canon at equal volume before deciding which should lead. Beneath faster values, retain the broad proportion of the Poco larghetto. The final return will feel earned when its calm grows from that deep pulse rather than from a sudden slowing.

What the document containsDocument: The document contains 12 pages in PDF format. No MIDI file is currently attached to this historical record. The 12 pages contain the theme and eleven complete variations, including the contrary-motion canon in the fifth.The historical record marks the work and file as public domain but does not document the editor or exact provenance of this copy. The file preserved by LesPartitions.info can be compared with the reference catalogue. Following that check, LesPartitions.info separates established facts from information that remains incomplete.