Beethoven: 6 Variations in G major, WoO 77

Introduction

This piece is also known as Six Easy Variations on an Original Theme. It was composed around the same time as the Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, one of the more important and larger early piano works of Beethoven, despite the fact that many still do not fully appreciate its art. These variations inhabit a different world altogether, their appeal coming from their charm and grace, not from innovation or grand design. One might observe that they occupy a similar kind of position in Beethoven's oeuvre as Weihnachtsbaum (1874-76) does in Liszt's, or Music for Children (1935) does in Prokofiev's. Beethoven's work is relatively easy to perform and its expressive language would not pose a problem for young listeners or for the uninitiated.

The main theme is simple and direct, offering a childlike charm in its innocent-sounding, chipper gait. The first variation is livelier than the theme, but continues the same bright mood. The second presents some of the perkiest music in the piece, sounding almost giddy as it seems to skip and jump along the keyboard. The next variation is also happy, but more muscular and emphatic than the previous music, too, hinting at conflict and tension.

While the composer's first signs of deafness were beginning to surface around this time, they apparently had little effect on his mood, at least up to this point in the work. In the fourth variation we find what could be a brief reflection on that misfortune: the music is dark here, played on low chords, with no harmonizing at the outset. There is more than a suggestion of anger here. The mood turns cheerful in the last two variations, the almost manic gaiety in the fifth benefiting from the contrast of the grim fourth variation. The main theme returns, somewhat altered, near the end, launching the deftly-wrought, rather nonchalant coda.

This is well-crafted light music that ought to please most listeners interested in the less-serious side of Beethoven. This set of variations was first published in Vienna in 1800. A typical performance of the work lasts about seven to eight minutes.

Parts/Movements

1. Thema: Andante, quasi allegretto -
2. Variation 1 -
3. Variation 2 -
4. Variation 3 -
5. Variation 4 -
6. Variation 5 -
7. Variation 6