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The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of
variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...
for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a
waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wal ...
composed by
Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...
. It forms the first part of Diabelli's publication ''
Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in t ...
'', the second part consisting of 50 variations by 50 other composers. It is often considered to be one of the greatest sets of variations for keyboard along with
J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
's '' Goldberg Variations''. The music writer
Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...
called it "the greatest set of variations ever written" and pianist
Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" '' ...
has described it as "the greatest of all piano works". It also comprises, in the words of Hans von Bülow, "a microcosm of Beethoven's art". In ''Beethoven: The Last Decade 1817–1827'', Martin Cooper writes, "The variety of treatment is almost without parallel, so that the work represents a book of advanced studies in Beethoven's manner of expression and his use of the keyboard, as well as a monumental work in its own right". In his ''Structural Functions of Harmony'',
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
writes that the ''Diabelli Variations'' "in respect of its harmony, deserves to be called the most adventurous work by Beethoven". Beethoven's approach to the
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
is to take some of its smallest elements – the opening turn, the descending fourth and fifth, the repeated notes – and build upon them pieces of great imagination, power and subtlety. Alfred Brendel wrote, "The theme has ceased to reign over its unruly offspring. Rather, the variations decide what the theme may have to offer them. Instead of being confirmed, adorned and glorified, it is improved, parodied, ridiculed, disclaimed, transfigured, mourned, stamped out and finally uplifted". Beethoven does not seek variety by using key-changes, staying with Diabelli's
C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
for most of the set: among the first twenty-eight variations, he uses the tonic minor only once, in Variation 9. Then, nearing the conclusion, Beethoven uses
C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Chang ...
for Variations 29–31 and for Variation 32, a triple
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...
, he switches to
E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...
. Coming at this late point, after such a long period in C major, the key-change has an increased dramatic effect. At the end of the fugue, a culminating flourish consisting of a diminished seventh arpeggio is followed by a series of quiet chords punctuated by silences. These chords lead back to Diabelli's C major for Variation 33, a closing
minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...
.


Background

The work was composed after Diabelli, a well-known music publisher and composer, in the early part of 1819 sent a waltz of his creation to all the important composers of the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, including
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
,
Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...
, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and the Archduke Rudolph, asking each of them to write a variation on it. His plan was to publish all the variations in a patriotic volume called ''
Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in t ...
'', and to use the profits to benefit orphans and widows of the Napoleonic Wars. Franz Liszt was not included, but it seems his teacher Czerny arranged for him to also provide a variation, which he composed at the age of 11. Beethoven had had a connection with Diabelli for a number of years. About a slightly earlier period, 1815, Beethoven's authoritative biographer,
Alexander Wheelock Thayer Alexander Wheelock Thayer (October 22, 1817 – July 15, 1897) was an American librarian and journalist who became the author of the first scholarly biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, still after many updatings regarded as a standard work of refe ...
, writes, "Diabelli, born near Salzburg in 1781, had now been for some years one of the more prolific composers of light and pleasing music, and one of the best and most popular teachers in Vienna. He was much employed by Steiner and Co., as copyist and corrector, and in this capacity enjoyed much of Beethoven's confidence, who also heartily liked him as a man." At the time of his project for variations on a theme of his own by various composers, Diabelli had advanced to become a partner in the publishing firm of Cappi and Diabelli. The oft-told but now questionable story of the origins of this work is that Beethoven at first refused categorically to participate in Diabelli's project, dismissing the theme as banal, a ''Schusterfleck'' or 'cobbler's patch,' unworthy of his time. Not long afterwards, according to the story, upon learning that Diabelli would pay a handsome price for a full set of variations from him, Beethoven changed his mind and decided to show how much could be done with such slim materials. (In another version of the legend, Beethoven was so insulted at being asked to work with material he considered beneath him that he wrote 33 variations to demonstrate his prowess.) Today, however, this story is taken as more legend than fact. Its origins are with
Anton Schindler Anton Felix Schindler (13 June 1795 in Medlov – 16 January 1864 in Bockenheim (Frankfurt am Main)) was an Austrian law clerk and associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Schindler moved to Vienna in 1813 to st ...
, Beethoven's unreliable biographer, whose account conflicts in a number of ways with several established facts, indicating that he did not have first-hand knowledge of events. At some point, Beethoven certainly did accept Diabelli's proposal, but rather than contributing a single variation on the theme, he planned a large set of variations. To begin work he laid aside his sketching of the ''
Missa Solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In Frenc ...
,'' completing sketches for four variations by early 1819. (Schindler was so far off the mark that he claimed, "At the most, he worked three months on it, during the summer of 1823".Czerny, Carl, "On the Proper Performance of All Beethoven's Works for the Piano: Edited and with a Commentary by Paul Badura-Skoda", Universal Editions, 1970, p. 74 Carl Czerny, a pupil of Beethoven, claimed that "Beethoven wrote these Variations in a merry freak".) By the summer of 1819, he had completed twenty-three of the set of thirty-three.Kinderman, William, ''Beethoven'', Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 212. In February 1820, in a letter to the publisher Simrock, he mentioned "grand variations", as yet incomplete. Then he laid the work aside for several years – something Beethoven rarely did – while he returned to the ''Missa Solemnis'' and the late piano sonatas. In June 1822, Beethoven offered to his publisher Peters "Variations on a waltz for pianoforte alone (there are many)". In the autumn of the same year he was in negotiations with Diabelli, writing to him, "The fee for the Variat. should be 40 ducats at the most if they are worked out on as large a scale as planned, but if this should ''not take place'', it would be set for ''less''". It was probably in February 1823 that Beethoven returned to the task of completing the set. By March or April 1823, the full set of thirty-three variations was finished. By April 30 a copy was ready to send to Ries in London. Beethoven kept the original set of twenty-three in order, but inserted nos. 1 (the opening march), 2, 15, 23 (sometimes called a parody of a Cramer finger exercise), 24 (a lyrical fughetta), 25, 26, 28, 29 (the first of the series of three slow variations leading to the final fugue and minuet), 31 (the third, highly expressive slow variation leading directly into the final fugue and minuet) and 33 (the concluding minuet). One suggestion on what prompted Beethoven to write a set of "grand variations" on Diabelli's theme is the influence of the Archduke Rudolph who, in the previous year, under Beethoven's tutelage, had composed a huge set of forty variations on a theme by Beethoven. In a letter of 1819 to the Archduke, Beethoven mentions that "in my writing-desk there are several compositions that bear witness to my remembering Your Imperial Highness". Several theories have been advanced on why he decided to write thirty-three variations. He might have been trying to outdo himself after his 32 Variations in C minor, or trying to outdo Bach's ''Goldberg Variations'' with its total of thirty-two pieces (two presentations of the theme and thirty variations). There is a story that Diabelli was pressing Beethoven to send him his contribution to the project, whereupon Beethoven asked, "How many contributions have you got?" "Thirty-two", said Diabelli. "Go ahead and publish them", Beethoven is purported to have replied, "I shall write thirty-three all by myself." Alfred Brendel observes, "In Beethoven's own pianistic output, the figures 32 and 33 have their special significance: 32 sonatas are followed by 33 variations as a crowning achievement, of which Var. 33 relates directly to the thirty-second's final adagio." And Brendel adds, whimsically, "There happens to be, between the 32 Variations in C minor and the sets Opp. 34 and 35, a numerical gap. The Diabelli Variations fills it." Diabelli published the work quickly as Op. 120 in June of the same year, adding the following introductory note: In the following year, 1824, it was republished as Volume 1 of the two-volume set ''
Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in t ...
'', the second volume comprising the 50 variations by 50 other composers. Subsequent editions no longer mentioned ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein''.


Title

The title Beethoven gave to the work has received some comment. His first reference was in his correspondence, where he called it ''Große Veränderungen über einen bekannten Deutschen Tanz'' ("Grand Variations on a well-known German dance"). Upon first publication, however, the title referred explicitly to a waltz by Diabelli: ''33 Veränderungen über einen Walzer von Diabelli''. Beethoven chose the German word ''Veränderungen'' rather than the usual Italian-derived ''Variationen'', in a period when he preferred using the German language in expression marks and titles, such as ''Hammerklavier''. Yet, apart from the title, we find only traditional Italian musical terms within the work, suggesting that Beethoven was probably trying to make a point in his use of ''Veränderungen''. Since ''Veränderungen'' can mean not only "variations" but also "transformations", it is sometimes suggested that Beethoven was announcing that this work does something more profound than had hitherto been done in variation form.


Dedication

Although some commentators find significance in the work's dedication to Mme. Antonie von Brentano, offering it as evidence that she was Beethoven's "
Immortal Beloved The Immortal Beloved (German "Unsterbliche Geliebte") is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6–7 July 1812 in Teplitz. The unsent letter is written in pencil on 10 small pages. It was found in the comp ...
", she was not Beethoven's first choice. His original plan was to have the work sent to England where his old friend,
Ferdinand Ries Ferdinand Ries (baptised 28 November 1784 – 13 January 1838) was a German composer. Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, nine piano concertos (the first concert ...
, would find a publisher. Beethoven promised the dedication to Ries's wife ("You will also receive in a few weeks 33 variations on a theme dedicated to your wife". Letter, April 25, 1823). A delay in the shipment to England caused confusion. Beethoven explained to Ries in a later letter, "The variations were not to appear here until after they had been published in London, but everything went askew. The dedication to Brentano was intended only for Germany, as I was under obligation to her and could publish nothing else at the time. Besides, only Diabelli, the publisher here, got them from me. Everything was done by Schindler, a bigger wretch I never knew on God's earth—an arch-scoundrel whom I have sent about his business—I can dedicate another work to your wife in place of it ..."


Diabelli's theme

Whether Schindler's story is true or not that Beethoven at first contemptuously dismissed Diabelli's waltz as a ''Schusterfleck'' (''rosalia'' / "cobbler's patch"), there is no doubt the definition fits the work perfectly – "musical sequences repeated one after another, each time modulated at like intervals" – as can be seen clearly in these three examples: # # # From the earliest days writers have commented on the juxtaposition between the waltz's simplicity and the vast, complex musical structure Beethoven built upon it, and the widest possible range of opinions of Diabelli's theme have been expressed. At one end of the spectrum is the admiration of
Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...
("healthy, unaffected, and drily energetic", "rich in solid musical facts", cast in "reinforced concrete") and
Maynard Solomon Maynard Elliott Solomon (January 5, 1930 – September 28, 2020) was an American music executive and musicologist, a co-founder of Vanguard Records as well as a music producer."Maynard Solomon" in ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', ...
("pellucid, brave, utterly lacking in sentimentality or affectation") and the kindly tolerance of Hans von Bülow ("quite a pretty and tasteful little piece, protected from the dangers of obsolescence by what one might call its melodic neutrality"). At the other end is
William Kinderman William Andrew Kinderman (born 1 November 1952) is an American author and music scholar who plays the piano. Life Born in Philadelphia, Kinderman studied music and philosophy at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and later the same subjects ...
's contempt ("banal", "trite", "a beer hall waltz"). In liner notes to
Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...
's 2006
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
recording, Michael Steinberg attempts to pinpoint what Beethoven might have found appealing in the theme, writing:


Commentaries

Since the work was first published, commentators have tried to find patterns, even an overall plan or structure for this huge, diverse work, but little consensus has been reached. Several early writers sought to discover clear parallels with Johann Sebastian Bach's '' Goldberg Variations'', without great success. Others claimed to have found symmetries, three groups of nine, for example, although the penultimate Fugue had to be counted as five. The work has been analyzed in terms of sonata form, complete with separate 'movements.' What is not disputed, however, is that the work begins with a simple, rather commonplace musical idea, transforms it in many radical ways, and ends with a sequence of variations that are cathartic in the manner of other late Beethoven works.


By Maynard Solomon

Maynard Solomon Maynard Elliott Solomon (January 5, 1930 – September 28, 2020) was an American music executive and musicologist, a co-founder of Vanguard Records as well as a music producer."Maynard Solomon" in ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', ...
in ''The Late Beethoven: Music, Thought, Imagination'' expresses this idea symbolically, as a journey from the everyday world ("Diabelli's theme conveys ideas, not only of the national, the commonplace, the humble, the rustic, the comic, but of the mother tongue, the earthly, the sensuous, and, ultimately, perhaps, of every waltzing couple under the sun" to a transcendent reality. For Solomon the structure, if there is any, consists merely of "clusters of variations representing forward and upward motion of every conceivable kind, character and speed". He sees demarcation points at Variations 8, 14 and 20, which he characterizes as three "strategically placed plateaus
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
provide spacious havens for spiritual and physical renewal in the wake of the exertions which have preceded them".). Thus, his analysis yields four sections, variations 1–7, 9–13, 15–19 and 21–33.


By William Kinderman

The most influential writing on the work today is
William Kinderman William Andrew Kinderman (born 1 November 1952) is an American author and music scholar who plays the piano. Life Born in Philadelphia, Kinderman studied music and philosophy at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and later the same subjects ...
's ''Beethoven's Diabelli Variations'', which begins by carefully tracing the development of the work through various Beethoven sketchbooks. Of great significance, according to Kinderman, is the discovery that a few crucial variations were added in the final stage of composition, 1822–23 and inserted at important turning-points in the series. A careful study of these late additions reveals that they stand out from the others by having in common a return to, and special emphasis on, the melodic outline of Diabelli's waltz, in the mode of parody. For Kinderman, parody is the key to the work. He points out that most of the variations do not emphasize the simple features of Diabelli's waltz: "Most of Beethoven's other variations thoroughly transform the surface of Diabelli's theme, and though motivic materials from the waltz are exploited exhaustively, its affective model is left far behind". The purpose of the new variations is to recall Diabelli's waltz so that the cycle does not spiral too far from its original theme. Without such a device, considering the great variety and complexity of the set, Diabelli's waltz would become superfluous, "a mere prologue to the whole." Parody is used because of the banality of Diabelli's theme. Kinderman distinguishes several forms of "parody", pointing out several examples which have no special structural significance and which were composed in the earlier period, such as the humorous parody of the
aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
from Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'' (Var. 22) and the parody of a Cramer finger exercise (Var. 23). He also mentions allusions to Bach (Vars. 24 and 32) and Mozart (Var. 33). But the added, structural variations recall Diabelli's waltz, not Bach or Mozart or Cramer, and clearly highlight its most unimaginative aspects, especially its repetition of the C major tonic chord with G emphasized as the high note and the static harmony thus created. The first of the three added variations is No. 1, a "mock-heroic" march which immediately follows Diabelli to open the set dramatically, echoing in the right hand the tonic triad of the theme while the left hand simply walks down in octaves Diabelli's descending fourth. No. 2 even maintains the repeated root-position triad, demonstrating the intent to keep the beginning of the set somewhat anchored. Afterwards however, Diabelli is barely recognizable until Variation 15, the second structural variation, a brief, lightweight piece conspicuously inserted between several of the most powerful variations (Nos. 14, 16 and 17). It recalls and caricatures the original waltz by means of its prosaic harmony. The third and final structural variation, in Kinderman's analysis, is No. 25, which shifts Diabelli's monotonous rhythm from the bass to the treble and fills the bass with a simple figure endlessly repeated in a "lumbering caricature". Arriving comically after the sublime Fughetta's arresting conclusion, it opens the concluding section of the series, from the total unraveling of the following major variations and descent into minor, to the determination of the fugue, to the transcendence of the minuet. Kinderman summarizes, "Diabelli's waltz is treated first ironically as a march that is half-stilted, half-impressive, and then, at crucial points in the form, twice recapitulated in amusing caricature variations. At the conclusion of the work, in the Fugue and last variation, reference to the melodic head of Diabelli's theme once again becomes explicit – indeed, it is hammered into the ground. But any further sense of the original context of the waltz is lacking. By means of three parody variations, 1, 15, and 25, Beethoven established a series of periodic references to the waltz that draw it more closely into the inner workings of the set, and the last of these gives rise to a progression that transcends the theme once and for all. That is the central idea of the ''Diabelli Variations''." Kinderman thus sees the work as falling into three sections, Variations 1–10, 11–24 and 25–33. Each section has a certain logic and ends with a clear break. Kinderman asserts that this large-scale structure effectively follows the sonata-allegro form of Exposition-Development-Recapitulation, or more generally, Departure-Return. The first section 1–10 begins with two deliberately conservative variations followed by progressive distancing from the waltz – in tempo, subdivision, extremity of register, and abstraction. Thus the effect of this section is expositional, with a grounded start and a sense of departure. The brilliant variation 10 is a clear climax, with no logical continuation other than a reset – indeed, the subdued, suspended 11 opposes 10 in practically every musical parameter, and the contrast is striking. Thus begun, the second section 11–24 is defined by between-variation contrast, with nearly every sequence a stark juxtaposition, often exploited for comic and dramatic effect. The tension and disorder achieved with these contrasts gives the section a developmental quality, an instability requiring a re-synthesis. The conclusion of the fughetta no. 24, with suspension and fermata, is the second major section break. Out of the solemn silence following 24, 25 enters humorously, the last moment of programmatic contrast and the last structural variation, anchoring the cycle to the theme once more before heading off into the final section. Variations 25–33 form another progressive series, rather than a collection of contrasts. The familiarity of 25 (especially after its predecessors) and the ensuing return to a progressive pattern give this section a recapitulatory quality. First the theme is subdivided and abstracted to the point of disintegration with 25–28. Variations 29–31 then descend into the minor, culminating in the baroque-romantic largo 31, the emotional climax of the work and the groundwork for the sense of transcendence to come. A dominant segue seamlessly heralds the massive fugue 32 – the 'finale' in its relentless energy, virtuosity, and complexity. The intensely suspenseful final transition dissolves into the Minuet, at once a final goal and a denouement. The effect of the full cycle is the distinct sense of a dramatic arch – this could arguably be achieved to some extent from sheer duration; however, the strategically placed structural variations, meticulous sequencing, sweeping departure and return, and inspired final progression augment this effect and demonstrate its intentionality.


By Alfred Brendel

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" '' ...
, in his essay "Must Classical Music be Entirely Serious?" takes an approach similar to Kinderman's, making the case for the work as "a humorous work in the widest possible sense" and pointing out that early commentators took a similar view:


Beethoven and Bach

The reputation of the ''Diabelli Variations'' ranks alongside Bach's ''Goldberg Variations''. However, while in the ''Goldberg Variations'' Bach deprived himself of the resources available from taking the melody of the theme as a guiding principle, thereby gaining an independence in melodic matters that enabled him to attain far more variety and expanse, Beethoven made no such sacrifice. He exploited the melody, in addition to the harmonic and rhythmic elements, and by doing so succeeded in fusing them all into a set of variations of incredible analytical profundity. In addition to the analytical aspects, Beethoven enlarged upon the dimensions of this musical material so that the ''Diabelli Variations'' are properly called 'amplifying variations'. Numbers 24 and 32 are more or less textbook fugues that show Beethoven's debt to Bach, a debt further highlighted in variation 31, the last of the slow minor variations, with its direct reference to the ''Goldberg Variations''.


The variations


Theme: Vivace

Diabelli's theme, a waltz with off-beat accents and sharp changes in dynamics, was never intended for dancing. By this time, the waltz was no longer merely a dance but had become a form of
art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...
. Alfred Brendel's suggested title for Diabelli's theme, in his essay "Must Classical Music be Entirely Serious?", making the case for viewing the ''Diabelli Variations'' as a humorous work, is ''Alleged Waltz''. Commentators do not agree on the intrinsic musical value of Diabelli's theme. ::


Variation 1: ''Alla marcia maestoso''

While Beethoven's first variation stays close to the melody of Diabelli's theme, there is nothing waltz-like about it. It is a strong, heavily accented march in time, greatly differing from the character and time of the theme. This sharp break from Diabelli announces that the series will not consist of mere decorative variations on a theme. The first variation, according to Tovey, gives "emphatic proof that this is to be a very grand and serious work", describing it as "entirely solemn and grand in style". Kinderman, on the other hand, whose researches among the Beethoven sketchbooks discovered that Variation 1 was inserted late into the work, deems it a "structural variation", echoing Diabelli more clearly than the non-structural variations and, in this case, parodying the weaknesses of the theme. Its character is, for Kinderman, "pompous" and "mock-heroic". Alfred Brendel takes a view similar to Kinderman's, characterizing this variation as "serious but slightly lacking in brains". The title he offers is ''March: gladiator, flexing his muscles''. Wilhelm von Lenz called it ''The Mastodon and the Theme—a fable.'' ::


Variation 2: ''Poco allegro''

This variation was not part of Beethoven's first series but was added somewhat later. While it returns to time after the preceding march, it echoes little of Diabelli's theme. It is delicate, with a hushed, tense atmosphere. The only markings are and ''leggiermente''. It moves in eighth notes, ''allegro'', the treble and bass rapidly alternating throughout the entire piece. Near the end, the tension is increased by
syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "plac ...
s. Brendel suggests the delicacy of this variation by entitling it ''Snowflakes''. Beethoven diverges from Diabelli's structure of two equal parts, each one repeated, by omitting a repeat for the first part.
Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...
, in his famous recording, repeated the first part anyway. ::


Variation 3: ''L’istesso tempo''

Marked ''dol'' (''dolce''), this variation has a strong melodic line, although the original theme is not obvious. Mid-way through each section echoes the rising sequence which occurred at a similar point in Diabelli's theme. In the second half, there is a remarkable pianissimo passage where the treble holds a chord for four full bars while the bass repeats a little three-note figure over and over, eight times, after which the melody proceeds as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. This was the first variation in Beethoven's original plan. From the earliest sketchbooks, Beethoven kept it together with the following Variation 4. Both use
counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
, and the transition between them is seamless. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Confidence and nagging doubt''. ::


Variation 4: ''Un poco più vivace''

The steady rise in drama since Variation 2 reaches a high point in this variation. Here the excitement is brought front and centre, both halves of the piece racing in
crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...
s toward a pair of chords marked ''forte''. The driving rhythm emphasizes the third beat of the bar. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Learned
ländler The Ländler () is a folk dance in time which was popular in Austria, Bavaria, German Switzerland, and Slovenia at the end of the 18th century. It is a partner dance which strongly features hopping and stamping. It might be purely instrumen ...
''. ::


Variation 5: ''Allegro vivace''

This fifth variation is an exciting number with breathtaking rhythmic climaxes. For the first time in the series, there are elements of virtuosity, which will become more pronounced in the variations which immediately follow. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Tamed goblin''. ::


Variation 6: ''Allegro ma non troppo e serioso''

Both this and the following variations are brilliant, exciting, virtuoso pieces. This sixth variation features a
trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware cust ...
in nearly every bar set off against
arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
s and hurried figures in the opposite hand. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Trill rhetorics (Demosthenes braving the surf)''. Wilhelm von Lenz called it "In the Tyrol". ::


Variation 7: ''Un poco più allegro''

Sforzando octaves in the bass hand against
triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such ...
in the treble make for a brilliant, dramatic effect. Kinderman goes so far as to describe it as "harsh". Brendel's title for this variation is ''Sniveling and stamping''. ::


Variation 8: ''Poco vivace''

After the three loud, dramatic variations which precede it, this eighth variation offers relief and contrast in the form of a soft, strongly melodic piece, the melody moving at a stately pace in half- and dotted half-notes, with the bass providing a quiet accompaniment in the form of rising figures. The marking is ''dolce e teneramente'' ("sweetly and tenderly"). Brendel's title for this variation is ''
Intermezzo In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...
(to Brahms)''. ::


Variation 9: ''Allegro pesante e risoluto''

This is the first variation to have a minor key. Simple but powerful, Variation 9 is constructed out of the slimmest of materials, consisting of little more than Diabelli's opening grace-note and turn repeated in various registers. The direction is always ascending, building toward a climax. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Industrious nutcracker''. Like Variation No. 1, he characterizes it as "deeply serious but slightly lacking in brains". ::


Variation 10: ''Presto''

Traditionally viewed as the close of a main division of the work, Variation 10 is the most brilliant of all the variations, a break-neck presto with trills,
tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single note, particularly used on bowed string instruments, by rapidly moving the bow back and fo ...
s and staccato octave scales. Tovey comments, "The tenth, a most exciting whirlwind of sound, reproduces all the sequences and rhythms of the theme so clearly that it seems much more like a melodic variation than it really is". Brendel's title for this variation is ''Giggling and neighing''. ::


Variation 11: ''Allegretto''

Another variation built out of Diabelli's opening three notes, this one quiet and graceful. Kinderman points out how closely related Variations 11 and 12 are in structure. The opening of this variation appears in the movie ''
Copying Beethoven ''Copying Beethoven'' is a 2006 American dramatic film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Agnieszka Holland which gives a fictionalized take on the triumphs and heartaches of Ludwig van Beethoven's last years. Plot It is 1824 as Bee ...
'' as the theme of the sonata written by the copyist that Beethoven first ridicules then later, to redeem himself, begins to work on more seriously. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Innocente' (Bülow)''. ::


Variation 12: ''Un poco più moto''

Ceaseless motion with many running fourths. Kinderman sees this variation as foreshadowing Number 20 because of the simple way it exposes the harmonic structure. Tovey points out that it is a development of No. 11. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Wave Pattern''. Variation 12 is another divergence from Diabelli's two-part structure. The first part is unrepeated, while Beethoven writes out the repeat of the second part in full, making small changes. ::


Variation 13: ''Vivace''

Powerful, rhythmic chords, forte, each time followed by nearly two bars of silence, then a soft reply. "Eloquent pauses", in von Lenz's words. "Absurd silences", for Gerald Abraham. Barry Cooper sees it as a humorous piece, in which Beethoven "seems almost to poke fun at Diabelli's theme". Diabelli's mild opening turn is turned into the powerful chords, and his repeated chords become a long silence. The sequence is ended with two soft, anti-climactic notes. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Aphorism (biting)''. ::


Variation 14: ''Grave e maestoso''

The first slow variation, ''grave e maestoso''. Von Bülow comments, "To imbue this wonderful number with what I should like to call the 'high priestly solemnity' in which it was conceived, let the performer's fantasy summon up before his eyes the sublime arches of a Gothic cathedral." Kinderman writes of its "breadth and measured dignity", adding "its spacious nobility brings the work to a point of exposure which arouses our expectations for some new and dramatic gesture." The three variations which follow certainly fulfill those expectations. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Here He Cometh, the Chosen''. ::


Variation 15: ''Presto scherzando''

One of the last variations composed, Variation 15 is short and light, setting the stage for the following two loud virtuoso displays. For Barry Cooper, this is another humorous variation poking fun at Diabelli's theme. Tovey comments, "The fifteenth variation gives the whole melodic outline f the themeso closely that its extraordinary freedom of harmony (the first half actually closes in the tonic) produces no effect of remoteness." Brendel's title for this variation is ''Cheerful Spook''. Tovey gives a similar analysis of the variations: ::


Variation 16: ''Allegro''

A virtuoso variation, ''forte'', with trills and ascending and descending broken octaves. Brendel's title for this variation and the following one is ''Triumph''. ::


Variation 17: ''Allegro''

This is the second march after the opening variation, most of it ''forte'', with accented octaves in the bass and ceaseless, hurried figures in the treble. For Tovey, "This brings the first half of the work to a brilliant climax". Brendel's title for this variation and the preceding one is ''Triumph''. ::


Variation 18: ''Poco moderato''

Another variation using the opening turn in Diabelli's waltz, this time with a quiet (''dolce''), almost meditative character. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Precious memory, slightly faded''. ::


Variation 19: ''Presto''

Fast and busy, in sharp contrast to the variation which follows. Von Bülow points out "the canonic dialogue between the two parts". Brendel's title for this variation is ''Helter-skelter''. ::


Variation 20: ''Andante''

An extraordinarily slow-moving variation consisting almost entirely of dotted half notes in low registers – a striking contrast with the variations immediately before and after. Diabelli's melody is easily identified, but the harmonic progressions (see bars 9–12) are unusual and the overall tonality is ambiguous. Suggesting the title "Oracle", von Bülow recommends "an effect suggestive of the veiled organ-registers". Kinderman writes, "In this great enigmatic slow variation, No. 20, we have reached the still centre of the work ... the citadel of 'inner peace'". Tovey calls it "one of the most awe-inspiring passages in music". Brendel describes this Variation 20 as "hypnotic introspection" and offers as a title ''Inner sanctum''. Liszt called it ''Sphinx''. Diabelli's two-part structure is maintained, but without repeats. ::


Variation 21: ''Allegro con brio'' – ''Meno allegro'' – ''Tempo primo''

An extreme contrast to the preceding Andante. The beginning, in Kinderman's analysis, of variations achieving "transcendence", evoking "the entire musical universe as Beethoven knew it". The accompanying chords repeated so many times at the start of each section and the repeated trills repeated from the highest to the lowest registers ruthlessly exaggerate features of Diabelli's theme. Tovey describes this variation as "startling", but points out that it follows Diabelli's melody clearly and "changes from quick common to slower triple time whenever it reproduces the sequential passages ... in the theme". Brendel's title for this variation is ''Maniac and moaner''. Uhde groups Nos. 21–28 as the "scherzo group", with the tender Fughetta (No. 24) standing in as a "trio". ::


Variation 22: ''Allegro molto, alla « Notte e giorno faticar » di Mozart''

A reference to Leporello's aria in the beginning of Mozart's '' Don Giovanni''. The music is rather crudely humorous in style. Because Leporello is complaining that he has to "Work day and night", it is sometimes said that here Beethoven is grumbling about the labour he poured into these variations. It has been suggested, too, that Beethoven is trying to tell us that Diabelli's theme was stolen from Mozart. Brendel's title for this variation is ''‘Notte e giorno faticar’ (to Diabelli)''. ::


Variation 23: ''Allegro assai''

For von Bülow, another virtuoso variation to close what he views as the second main division of the work. For Kinderman, a parody of finger exercises published by
Johann Baptist Cramer Johann (sometimes John) Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858) was an English pianist, composer and music publisher of German origin. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer, a famous London violinist and conductor, one of a numerous famil ...
(whom Beethoven did admire as a pianist, if not as a composer). Tovey refers to its "orchestral brilliance and capricious rhythm". Brendel's title for this variation is ''The virtuoso at boiling-point (to Cramer)''. He characterizes Nos. 23, 27 and 28 as "one-track minds in an excited state", suggesting an ironic approach. ::


Variation 24: ''Fughetta'' (''Andante'')

Lyrical and beautiful, greatly contrasting with the preceding variation, an allusion to Bach. Tovey describes this variation as "a wonderfully delicate and mysterious web of sounds on a figure suggested partly by the treble and partly by the bass of the first four bars of the theme. Acting on a hint given him by the second half of Diabelli's theme, Beethoven inverts this in the second half of the fughetta." Kinderman compares it with the concluding fugue in the last movement of the Sonata in A, Op. 110 and to the mood of "certain quiet devotional passages in the ''Missa Solemnis''", both of which were composed in this same period. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Pure Spirit''. ::


Variation 25: ''Allegro''

Simple chords in the right hand over a ceaseless, busy pattern in the left hand. Tovey notes that it reproduces the opening of each half of Diabelli's theme quite simply, although the rest is very free, adding that "as a reaction from the impressively thoughtful and calm fughetta it has an intensely humorous effect". Brendel's title for this variation is ''Teutscher (German dance)''. ::


Variation 26: (''Piacevole'')

This variation is a deconstruction of the theme, consisting entirely of three-note broken triad inversions and stepwise figures. The switch at the halfway point from descending to ascending passages, a characteristic of the waltz faithfully preserved throughout the work, is seen here. These three final C major variations before the minor section have in common a textural distance from the waltz. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Circles on the Water''. ::


Variation 27: ''Vivace''

The structure of this variation is similar to the one preceding, in the exclusive use of three-note figures, the descending-to-ascending pattern, and the switch to stepwise passagework in contrary motion at the midpoint of each half. The triplet pattern consisting of a semitone and a third is taken from the rosalias at measures 8–12 of the theme. Brendel's title for this variation is ''Juggler''. He suggests an ironic approach, characterizing Nos. 23, 27 and 28 as "one-track minds in an excited state". ::


Variation 28: ''Allegro''

Von Bülow sees this as the close of the third main division of the work: "This Variation ... must be hammered out with wellnigh raging impetuosity... More delicate shading would not be in place – at least in the First Part". (von Bülow) Tovey writes: Brendel points out that as of 1819 there was a single C minor variation (No. 30) and that the late additions of Nos. 29 and 31 expanded the use of the key into "a larger C minor area". Brendel's title for this variation is ''The rage of the jumping-jack''. ::


Variation 29: ''Adagio ma non troppo''

The first of three slow variations, this appears to be the beginning of the end: "The composer transports us into a new, more earnest, even melancholy realm of feeling. It might be regarded as beginning the Adagio of this Variation-sonata; from this Adagio we are carried back, by the grand double fugue, Variation 32, into the original bright sphere of the tone-poem, the general character of which receives its seal in the graceful Minuetto-Finale". (von Bülow) Brendel's title for this variation is ''Stifled sighs (Konrad Wolff)''. ::


Variation 30: ''Andante, sempre cantabile''

"A kind of Baroque lament" (Kinderman). Slow and expressive, like the variation which follows. Its final bars lead smoothly to Variation 31. Commentators have used strong language for the concluding section. Tovey describes it as "a phrase so haunting that though Beethoven does not repeat the entire sections of this variation he marks the last four bars to be repeated". Von Bulow says, "We can recognize in these four measures the original germ of the entire romanticism of Schumann". Brendel's title for this variation is ''Gentle grief''. There are only hints of Diabelli's two-part structure. ::


Variation 31: ''Largo, molto espressivo''

Deeply felt, filled with
ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration * Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve o ...
and trills, there are many similarities with the arietta of Piano Sonata, Op. 111. Tovey again uses superlatives: "The thirty-first variation is an extremely rich outpouring of highly ornamented melody, which to Beethoven's contemporaries must have been hardly intelligible, but which we, who have learnt from Bach that a great artist's feeling is often more profound where his expression is most ornate, can recognize for one of the most impassioned utterances in all music." Von Bülow comments, "We should like to style this number, thoughtful and tender alike, a renascence of the Bach Adagio, as the succeeding double fugue is one of the Handel Allegros. Conjoining to these the final Variations, which might be considered as a new birth, so to speak, of the Haydn-Mozart Minuet, we possess, in these three Variations, a compendium of the whole history of music." The ending of this variation, an unresolved dominant seventh, leads naturally to the following fugue. Brendel's title for this variation is ''To Bach (to Chopin)''. The structure is a foreshortening of Diabelli's theme. ::


Variation 32: ''Fuga: Allegro''

While in traditional variation sets a fugue was often used to conclude the work, Beethoven uses his fugue to reach a grand climax, then follows it with a final, quiet minuet. The fugue of Variation 32 is set apart by its foreign key, E major. Structurally, the piece abandons Diabelli's two-part original. Melodically, it is based on Diabelli's falling fourth, used in many of the preceding variations, as well as, most strikingly, on the least inspired, least promising part of Diabelli's theme, the note repeated ten times. The bass in the opening bars takes Diabelli's rising figure and presents it in descending sequence. Out of these flimsy materials, Beethoven builds his powerful triple fugue. The themes are presented in a variety of harmonies, contexts, lights and shades, and by using the traditional fugal techniques of
inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...
and stretto. About two thirds through, a fortissimo climax is reached and, following a pause, there begins a contrasting pianissimo section with a constantly hurrying figure serving as the third fugal subject. Eventually, the original two themes of the fugue burst out loudly again and the work races impetuously toward its final climax, a crashing chord and a grand sweep of arpeggios twice down and up the entire keyboard. The transition to the sublime minuet that forms the final variation is a series of quiet, greatly prolonged chords that achieve an extraordinary effect. In Solomon's words, "The thirty-third variation is introduced by a Poco adagio that breaks the fugue's agitated momentum and finally takes us to the brink of utter motionlessness, providing a curtain to separate the fugue from the minuet." In describing the ending, commentators are often driven to superlatives. Gerald Abraham calls it "one of the strangest passages Beethoven ever wrote".Abraham, Gerald, ''The Age of Beethoven'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, , , 1982, p. 353. Kinderman describes the transition as "one of the most magical moments in the work": Tovey's description of this dramatic moment is: Technically, von Bülow admires in the closing four bars "the principle of modulation chiefly developed in the master's last creative period ... the successive step-wise progression of the several parts while employing enharmonic modulation as a bridge to connect even the remotest tonalities." Brendel's title for this variation is ''To Handel''. ::


Variation 33: ''Tempo di Menuetto moderato''

Tovey comments: Brendel's title for this variation is ''To Mozart; to Beethoven'' explaining: Solomon describes the closing bars as "the final image – of a tender, songful, profound nostalgia, a vantage point from which we can review the purposes of the entire journey." ::


Works inspired

* ''Dialogue avec 33 variations de L. van Beethoven sur une valse de Diabelli'', a 1971 dialogue between writer
Michel Butor Michel Butor (; 14 September 1926 – 24 August 2016) was a French poet, novelist, teacher, essayist, art critic and translator. Life and work Michel Marie François Butor was born in Mons-en-Barœul, a suburb of Lille, the third of seven childr ...
and Beethoven. * ''
33 Variations ''33 Variations'' is a play by Moisés Kaufman, inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. It débuted on Broadway on March 9, 2009, starring Jane Fonda. Originally written in 2007, its world première was held at Arena Stage in Wash ...
'', a 2007 play by
Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 Natio ...
, explores the story of the variations' composition.


See also

* List of variations on a theme by another composer


Notes

*a. A
melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
or musical sequence repeated one step, or some fixed interval, higher. Also known as a ''rosalia'', named after an Italian song ''Rosalia, mia cara''. While it can be a simple, unimaginative device, the ''Grove Dictionary of Music'' points out that the rosalia has been used effectively by great composers, as in Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in the '' Messiah'' ("King of Kings"), the first movement of Mozart's Jupiter Symphony and the finale of Mozart's String Quartet K.575. *b. '' Grove Dictionary'' describes the work by other composers as follows: :


References


Bibliography

* * * * * *


External links


Commentaries


''Beethoven's Diabelli Variations'' by William Kinderman. Online version


Sheet music

*
Public Domain sheet music of Franz Schubert's Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli at IMSLPPublic Domain sheet music of Franz Liszt's Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli at IMSLP


Other resources

*[https://www.beethoven.de/en/work/view/ahBofmJlZXRob3Zlbi12aXVychELEgR3b3JrGICAgJzG4K0KDA/33+Variations+on+a+waltz+by+Anton+Diabelli+for+piano+%28C+major%29+op.+120?fromArchive=6299845270700032 Beethoven House Bon: digital archive], includes early editions {{Authority control Piano variations by Ludwig van Beethoven Collaborations in classical music 1823 compositions Compositions in C major Composer tributes (classical music)