''32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor'',
WoO
Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to:
People
Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names:
* Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛
* Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫
* Ng (name): 吳, 伍
* ...
80 (german: 32 Variationen über ein eigenes Thema, link=no), is a composition for solo piano by
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, written in 1806.
Analysis
The work consists of an eight-
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
main
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 ...
and 32
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 individua ...
. A
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
in the left hand, based upon a descending
chromatic bass, serves as an important structural device. The short and sparse melodic theme, as well as the emphasis on the bass line, reflect a possible influence of the
chaconne
A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short rep ...
and the
Folia
''La Folía'' (Spanish), or ''Follies'' (English), also known as ''folies d'Espagne'' (French), ''La Follia'' (Italian), and ''Folia'' (Portuguese), is one of the oldest remembered European musical themes, or primary material, generally melodic, ...
.
The variations differ in character, technical difficulty and dynamics.
Variations
Typically, performances of this piece last from 10 to 12 minutes.
Reception
The piece proved popular, receiving a favorable review in the ''
Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
The ''Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung'' (''General music newspaper'') was a German-language periodical published in the 19th century. Comini (2008) has called it "the foremost German-language musical periodical of its time". It reviewed musical e ...
'' (Leipzig) in 1807, and remains popular today. Nevertheless, Beethoven did not see fit to assign it an
opus number
In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among composit ...
. It is said that later in his life he heard a friend practicing it. After listening for some time he said "Whose is that?" "Yours", was the answer. "Mine? That piece of folly mine?" was his retort; "Oh, Beethoven, what an ass you were in those days!"
See also
*
Beethoven and C minor
The compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven in the key of C minor carry special significance for many listeners. His works in this key have been said to be powerful and emotive, evoking dark and stormy sentiments.
Background
During the Classical ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Piano variations by Ludwig van Beethoven
1806 compositions
Compositions in C minor