Welcome to the third listening assignment for students of the Drummond Piano Studio. This week we will be looking at a theme and variations composed by Ludwig van Beethoven based on the Turkish March theme. For those you who are new to the Drummond Piano Studio listening assignments, I will choose a recording for you to listen and I will write a few short paragraphs about the piece, composer, and performer as they relate to music history. Then you will see 2-3 questions that you must answer before you come to your next lesson. For younger students, have your parents help you. Remember to listen to these assignments with as few distractions as possible.
Theme and Variations Op. 76 “Turkish March”
Theme and Variations is a compositional technique where music material (theme) is repeated in an altered form (variation). It can be altered in many different ways such as changes in harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. This particular set of variations was composed in 1809 and consists of the theme plus six variations. You will notice how each variation sounds different but there is always material that is used from the original theme to tie everything together. It moves from a stately opening theme to a flowing string of sixteenth notes and ultimately returns to the main theme just when you can barely recognize it anymore. Beethoven composed 21 sets of theme and variations throughout his life.
Composer Biography
baptized December 17th, 1770-March 26th, 1827
Ludwig van Beethoven, as we learned last week, is one of the great “Three B’s” to come from Germany, specifically the city of Bonn. He served as an important link between the Classical Period (1730-1820) and the Romantic Period (1815-1910) of music. His life and works are generally split into three main periods: early, middle, and late. In each period, you can see in his music a progression from highly classical to more romantic compositions, ultimately influenced by his personal struggle with deafness. In the last decade of his life, Beethoven was almost completely deaf and yet produced some of the most brilliant and heroic compositions the world had ever heard.
Questions
- Who did Ludwig van Beethoven study piano with after moving to Vienna, Italy?
- How many piano sonatas did Beethoven compose throughout his life?
- Define Theme and Variations.
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