Variation Form

By Everett -
This image was taken from library.thinkquest.org
A Variations movement consists of a Theme, usually made up of four or eight-bar phrases, and several Variations, in which the Theme is elaborated, developed, and transformed (within the Theme's harmonic and melodic framework). Usually, a variations movement ends with a Coda, which is not confined to the harmonic framework of the Theme. 

 Variation form is a little different than the easier to write Ternary and Rondo, but it still has the same general idea.  There is a main theme, and in Variation form the that theme is the only theme.  It's normally a four or eight bar phrase.  After the theme is stated, there a several "variations" made to the theme as it is restated.  In the diagram above, the theme is restated three times, but the number of reinstatements is up to the composer.

Coda-"Wasn't That Was Sonata Form?"

Codas or finales, are indeed part of both Variation and Sonata form.  The coda in both forms is the finale, and should stick in the audience's head as they drive home from the concert.  

Structure

The structure of variation a movement will change depending on how many times the theme is reinstated.  For now, the diagram above will serve as an example.  There's a theme, A, and because the theme is changed three times afterword, the structure is AA2A3A4B.

Example of Rondo Form: Brahms's Fourth Symphony in E Minor, 4th Mvt.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Band Title Finally Announced!

By Everett -
Image
Composition these days hasn't been easy.  I haven't had any inspiration to write anything in such a long time, and even the pieces I said I would be working on this year haven't been as easy I thought.  I've decided though to buckle down for the rest of the summer and produce an awesome piece of music which will probably be called Awesome Overture .  So far all I've worked on is the main theme.  Here's a sneak peak....
Read more

Shadow March

By Everett -
Image
Purchase Sheet Music Order #:EMCB0001 Score Alone $7.50 USD Score with Parts $57.50 USD Composition Background Even though Shadow March does not fulfill the complete requirements of a true march, it's a great piece that captures the shadows of our earth in music. As the sequel to Triumphant March, Shadow March is the musical opposite. Instead of the soaring triumphant melody, there is an evil, driving line, reminiscent of the fourth movement of The New World Symphony. "I've been working quite a few *commissions lately," said Everett C. Davis, composer, "but I just haven't had any inspiration. Both marches I've written have been ways to continue to write music, and because they've been so easy to write, I didn't have to look past the classics, and John Williams for inspiration." *Commissions of Everett C. Davis are really just composition requests, as that he does not request any money.
Read more

Two Sestina Pomes

By Everett -
Image
Purchase Sheet Music Order #:EMCB0004 Score Alone $5.00 USD Score with Parts $40.00 USD Recording Information This recording of Two Sestina Poems was made by the Sam Barlow Symphonic Band of 2012, on May 17, 2012. Composition Background In French Poetry the Sestina is the most advanced form of poetry, and in music the Sonata is the most advanced form a movement can be written in. I thought it was fitting that a sonata was written about two sestina poems. The primary subject is about a sad and depressing poem called I Have Become the World , and the secondary subject is about a happy, joyous poem called The Power of Love . Both poems aren't famous, and can't be found publicly. I Have Become the World Pain is a necessity in life. It makes emotion more bearable and prolongs the bitter yet comforting end. Even more than the end itself, the world is cold. And where it is coldest there exists only death. Some think of it as a tragedy when death in realit
Read more