Rondo and theme and variations
Music theory · Musical form · Level 4 · 14 min
Two forms built on return: the rondo, where a refrain comes back between contrasting episodes, and theme and variations, where the same theme is transformed again and again.
Rondo
The refrain (A) alternates with episodes (B, C…): A B A C A (five-part rondo) or A B A C A B A (seven-part rondo). The refrain is in the home key; the episodes explore other keys. The character is often lively and cheerful: the favourite form for Classical finales.
A famous example: Beethoven's “Für Elise” (WoO 59).
| A | B | A | C | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A minor, the famous theme | F major, brighter, with runs | theme returns | A pedal, dark and agitated, in D minor | final return |
Other examples: the “Rondo alla turca” from Mozart's Sonata K. 331, and Beethoven's “Rage over a Lost Penny”.
Theme and variations
A theme (often simple, in binary form) is stated, then transformed in a series of variations. Each variation keeps something (the structure, the harmony, the melody) and changes something else:
- Melodic variation: ornamentation, neighbour notes, runs;
- Rhythmic variation: faster values (diminution), dotted rhythms, triplets;
- Change of mode: the minore variation (in minor);
- Change of texture: theme in the left hand, counterpoint, chords;
- Change of character: expressive adagio, march, waltz, fugue…
M:4/4 L:1/4 K:C "C"c c g g | "F"a a "C"g2 | "C"c3/2 c/ g3/2 g/ | "F"a3/2 a/ "C"g2 | "Cm"c c g g | "Fm"_a _a "Cm"g2 |]
Bars 1-2: the theme; bars 3-4: rhythmic (dotted) variation; bars 5-6: minore variation.
To listen to: Mozart's 12 Variations K. 265 on “Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman” (the “Twinkle” tune), Handel's “Harmonious Blacksmith” (Suite HWV 430), Beethoven's 32 Variations WoO 80, and the summit of the genre, Bach's Goldberg Variations (30 variations over the same bass line).