What is variation? Variations in music

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The term "variations" in music refers to such changes in the melody in the process of unfolding the composition, in which its recognizability is preserved. The one-root word is "option". That is something similar, but still a little different. So it is in music.

Continuous update

The variation of the melody can be compared to facial expressions. We easily recognize our friends and relatives, no matter what emotional experiences they may experience. Their faces change, expressing anger, joy or resentment. But individual traits are preserved.

What is variation? In music, this term is understood as a specific form of a work. The play begins with the sound of a melody. As a rule, it is simple and easy to remember. Such a melody is called a variation theme. She is very bright, beautiful and expressive. Often the theme is a popular folk song.

Variations in music reveal the mastery of the composer. A simple and popular theme is followed by a chain of changes to it. They usually retain the tonality and harmony of the main melody. They are called variations. The task of the composer is to decorate and diversify the theme with the help of a number of special ways, sometimes quite sophisticated. A piece consisting of a simple melody and its variations following each otherafter another, is called variations. How did this structure originate?

A bit of history: the origins of the form

Often musicians and art lovers wonder what variations are. The origins of this form lie in ancient dances. Citizens and peasants, nobles and kings - everyone loved to move in sync with the sound of musical instruments. Dancing, they performed the same actions to a constantly repeating chant. However, a simple and unpretentious song, sounding without the slightest change, quickly got bored. Therefore, the musicians began to add various colors and shades to the melody.

Find out what variations are. To do this, turn to the history of art. Variations first made their way into professional music in the 18th century. Composers began to write plays in this form, not to accompany dances, but to listen. Variations were part of sonatas or symphonies. In the 18th century, this structure of a piece of music was very popular. Variations of this period are quite simple. The rhythm of the theme and its texture changed (for example, new echoes were added). Most often, variations sounded in major. But there was definitely one minor. The gentle and sad character made it the brightest fragment of the cycle.

New Variation Options

People, worldviews, eras have changed. The turbulent 19th century came - the time of revolutions and romantic heroes. The variations in music also turned out to be different. The theme and its changes became strikingly different. Composers achieved this through so-called genre modifications. For example, in the first variation, the themesounded like a cheerful polka, and in the second - like a solemn march. The composer could give the melody the features of a bravura w altz or a swift tarantella. In the 19th century, variations on two themes appear. First, one melody sounds with a chain of changes. Then it is replaced by a new theme and variants. This is how composers brought original features to this ancient structure.

Musicians of the 20th century offered their answer to the question of what variations are. They used this form to show complex tragic situations. For example, in Dmitri Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony, variations serve to reveal the image of universal evil. The composer changes the initial theme in such a way that it turns into a seething, unbridled element. This process is connected with filigree work on modification of all musical parameters.

Types and varieties

Composers often write variations on a theme that belongs to another author. This happens quite often. An example is Sergei Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. This piece is written in variational form. The theme here is the melody of Paganini's famous violin caprice.

A special variation of this popular musical form is the so-called basso ostinato variations. In this case, the theme sounds in a lower voice. A constantly repeated melody in the bass is hard to remember. Often the listener does not isolate it from the general flow at all. Therefore, such a theme at the beginning of a composition usually sounds monophonic or is duplicated in an octave.

Variations on sustained bass are often found in organworks of Johann Sebastian Bach. The monophonic theme is played on the foot keyboard. Over time, variations on the basso ostinato became a symbol of the sublime art of the Baroque. It is with this semantic context that the use of this form in the music of subsequent eras is associated. The finale of the fourth symphony by Johannes Brahms is solved in the form of variations on a sustained bass. This composition is a masterpiece of world culture.

Image potential and nuances of meaning

Examples of variation can also be found in Russian music. One of the most famous examples of this form is the chorus of Persian girls from Mikhail Glinka's opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. These are variations on the same melody. The theme is an authentic oriental folk song. The composer personally recorded it with notes, listening to the singing of the bearer of the folklore tradition. In each new variation, Glinka uses an ever more varied texture, which colors the unchanging melody with new colors. The nature of the music is gentle and languid.

Variations have been created for each musical instrument. The piano is one of the composer's main assistants. The famous classic Beethoven especially loved this instrument. He often wrote variations on simple and even banal themes by unknown authors. This made it possible for the genius to show all his skills. Beethoven transformed primitive melodies into musical masterpieces. His first composition in this form was nine variations on Dressler's march. After that, the composer wrote a lot of piano works, including sonatas andconcerts. One of the last works of the master is thirty-three variations on the theme of Diabelli's w altz.

Modern innovations

Music of the 20th century demonstrates a new type of this popular form. The works created in accordance with it are called variations with a theme. In such pieces, the main melody sounds not at the beginning, but at the end. The theme seems to be assembled from distant echoes, fragments and fragments scattered throughout the musical fabric. The artistic meaning of such a structure can be the search for eternal values among the surrounding bustle. Finding a lofty goal is symbolized by the theme that sounds at the end. An example is the third piano concerto by Rodion Shchedrin. The 20th century knows many cult works written in variational form. One of them is "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel. These are variations on the same melody. Each time it is repeated, it is performed by a new musical instrument.