Music can be written in many forms. One form used by composers is called theme and variations. This form starts with a tune, then changes it in different ways. As you listen to it, you will hear the original tunes played in new ways. Maybe it is faster or slower, maybe it is in a different key, or maybe the beat changes. It is fun ti listen for the ways the composer changed the tune to make a new variation.
Here is a “theme and variations” piece written by the composer Johannes Brahms. He took a tune from another composer, Franz Josef Haydn, and wrote a number of variations on that tune. It isn’t that unusual to have one composer use music written by another composer as the place he or she starts to create a new piece of music. This performance is by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein.
Did you hear how each variation changed the original tune? What are some of the ways you heard the tune changed?
Mr. Steve's Music 