Variations on a Mozart Theme

I wrote this variations piece for Mozart's birthday using this as my theme:

I slowed it down some in my variations to make the sixteenth notes more feasible to play. And I also took out the variations on the phrases Mozart did and put repeat signs in their place since I figured that I didn't need variations on 2 levels at once.

Of course, my Beethoven influence was almost inevitably going to show up in these variations and what better place than the Coda where I can really hammer home that this is the end of it. I made sure to use fragments of Mozart's theme in the coda though, so as to connect it to everything else in more than just the key.

What do you think of it?

This sound very clean and the variations tae more and more interest.

Perhaps I miss some modulation or a change in the tempo signature.

Hi @caters,

It's a long time to see you post! This is for sure a pleasant and sweet music! I love your classical approach to the variation form. You mostly vary the theme by retaining all the core melodic notes and harmony, and changing the rhythm, texture and register.

Apart from the minore var. VI, I would like to have more change of keys as Luis noted. I would love to see more varieties on harmonic chords, e.g. you can add modal mixture, chord substitution or even change the cadance, e.g. substitute the the G major cadence to E minor through interupted cadence for a variation, begins the variation in different keys apart from g minor.

7 hours ago, caters said:

Of course, my Beethoven influence was almost inevitably going to show up in these variations and what better place than the Coda where I can really hammer home that this is the end of it.

Actually I don't think this Beethovanian though since you do not use his motivic approach for variations. He likes to chop up the theme and vary the many elements in each of his variations, like in his Diabelli Variations and Eroica Variations.

I find the pickup in var. VII weird since it's in 3/4 time, but with the pickup it becomes 4/4 time.

I would prevent those parallel 8ves if I write in this style, e.g in Var.II amd Var. V.

I think ending the Var. III on a first inversion chord not applicable to this style, and I would use a root position for it!

Slur should be added throughout the piece to indicate legato playing.

I am quite nitpicky on this since you use Beethoven as your profile picture😅. He is my hero too! I do enjoy this and hope my suggestion can offer a little help! Thanks for sharing!

Henry

Hi Caters,

This piece is very clean, neat, and tidy. Score is easy to follow along as well. Overall, it's nice music but I feel like it could be polished up a bit.

For instance, besides the occasional different dynamic marking to start a variation, there was little in the way of dynamics in this one. The lack of slurs, staccato, hairpins, etc. makes it feel a little robotic at times. 

Being more adventurous in going to other keys, ritardando to the slower sections, well placed rests to give the streams of notes in some variations better phrasing... these are all things I think your music could have benefitted from. Luckily, they're all easy fixes if you wanted to pursue this piece further. 

Great effort, and thanks for sharing

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Actually I don't think this Beethovanian though since you do not use his motivic approach for variations. He likes to chop up the theme and vary the many elements in each of his variations, like in his Diabelli Variations and Eroica Variations.

I was just thinking Beethoven influence with the coda cause you know contrast of chords and octaves against melody and countermelody, contrast of rhythm, contrast of dynamics with the subito fortissimo.

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I find the pickup in var. VII weird since it's in 3/4 time, but with the pickup it becomes 4/4 time.

I mean, the original theme had a pickup, and the first note in the measure afterwards feels like the downbeat, so I didn't really see much of a choice here, I felt the pickup was necessary, cause it's part of the theme and all.

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I would prevent those parallel 8ves if I write in this style, e.g in Var.II amd Var. V.

Honestly, I wasn't even checking for parallel octaves. I only tend to do that when Baroque style counterpoint is my goal, like in a canon or in a Baroque style dance piece, or a fugue. In variations pieces and such, I tend not to check laboriously for parallel octaves cause I figure that

1. If I'm going to have a parallel perfect interval anyways I prefer the sound of parallel octaves over parallel fifths
2. It's not really going to be noticed in a non-Baroque style piece

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I think ending the Var. III on a first inversion chord not applicable to this style, and I would use a root position for it!

I mean, the reason I did that was because the original melody ends on the third and here I was moving the melody into the bass for Var. III and IV. But maybe you're right.

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Slur should be added throughout the piece to indicate legato playing.

I do use slurs to indicate legato in strings and woodwinds. I've had a tendency to not do that for piano though, cause as a pianist, I myself play legato by default unless there's indications that it should be otherwise(staccato, repeated notes, slur over staccato to mean portato aka mezzo-staccato, performance practice for the piece(especially relevant in Bach), leaps that obviously can't be done legato(lots of that in Romantic Era repertoire), octave melodic statements(very common for me to see in Beethoven)). I'll play a Bach Allemande legato, just as I would a Mozart sonata or a Beethoven bagatelle or a Schubert impromptu, regardless of whether I see slurring or not and for as long as I don't see contrary indications(which I don't see slurring at all in Bach usually, minimal in Mozart left hand parts, Alberti Bass or otherwise, more so in Schubert, but plenty of non-slurred legato as well). When I do use slurs in piano parts, it's usually the long phrasing type, not the shorter legato type.

18 minutes ago, caters said:

I mean, the original theme had a pickup, and the first note in the measure afterwards feels like the downbeat, so I didn't really see much of a choice here, I felt the pickup was necessary, cause it's part of the theme and all.

It's perfectly fine with the pickup, but if it's a pickup one beat should be reduced to have it, otherwise the time signature will be altered. For example you can change the last chord of b.126 to a quaver and the pickup to two semiquavers, then it will match the 3/4 time in the var. VII.

21 minutes ago, caters said:

Honestly, I wasn't even checking for parallel octaves. I only tend to do that when Baroque style counterpoint is my goal, like in a canon or in a Baroque style dance piece, or a fugue. In variations pieces and such, I tend not to check laboriously for parallel octaves cause I figure that

1. If I'm going to have a parallel perfect interval anyways I prefer the sound of parallel octaves over parallel fifths
2. It's not really going to be noticed in a non-Baroque style piece

Actually it's a concern for a classical style piece, and it is more noticeable here since the texture is thinner. But it's completely fine if that's your preference! I prefer parallel 8ves to 5ths too, since it's more like octave doubling, but the sound of parallel fifths is folk and ancient for me.

But the slurs and staccato can clarify the articulations since other pianists have their deafult. For example in the opening theme, if the pianist is not familiar with the Magic Flute, then should he play legato or staccato for the leaps in b.1? I mean we are not living in the same age as Bach and Mozart, and clearer indications will definitely allow more easy access for others to play your music. For this computer rendition adding those details will also allow the mp3 to executed better!

Btw. your channel is full of amazing percussion videos!

Henry

19 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Btw. your channel is full of amazing percussion videos!

Oh, that's not my channel actually, that's somebody else's channel, it just happened to have the theme which I used. My channel is more like MuseScore focused.

24 minutes ago, caters said:

Oh, that's not my channel actually, that's somebody else's channel, it just happened to have the theme which I used. My channel is more like MuseScore focused.

Oops!

Bravo!