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Topic: Help with theme and variations.  (Read 2449 times)

Offline mrnhrtkmp210999

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Help with theme and variations.
on: September 04, 2015, 02:08:58 PM
Hello everyone,

Since a little bit more then a week I'm composing variations on a theme by Mozart. I tried to write it in Mozart's style, with a little influence of Beethoven. However, now that I've come to the fourth variation, which is a 'minore' variation, I want some sort of short coda after that C-sharp major I'm in. Then from that C-sharp get back to F major. But I simply don't have enough understanding of harmony (I would really like to, but I wouldn't know where to obtain it) to know how to do that. Any help?

(Attachment of variations down here.)

Recently finished:

Bach: Art of Fugue - Contrapunctus 2, 4, 8, 9,
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110
Chopin: Ballade in F major, Op. 38
Brahms: Piano Concerto in D minor - First

Offline liszt1022

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Re: Help with theme and variations.
Reply #1 on: September 04, 2015, 02:53:49 PM
Following Mozart or Beethoven, you don't need a coda, you just go straight to the next variation in Major. If you really want Variation IV to return to F major before Variation V, why not just use a Piccardy 3rd on the last chord?
You're also asking how to get to F major from C-sharp, but you're not actually ending in C-sharp. Your D-flat chord at the end of your score is just a VI chord in your key, but you haven't actually modulated because you haven't defined the D-flat as a new I chord (with, say, an Ab7.)
However, if you did modulate to D-flat -the key- instead of D-flat -the chord-, I would probably go
Db     Gb64 (aka Gb/Db)   C7    F

Offline mrnhrtkmp210999

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  • Posts: 24
Re: Help with theme and variations.
Reply #2 on: September 04, 2015, 03:11:56 PM
Thanks! That already really helped.

However, I simply can't totally agree with you about not needing a coda to go to the next variation. I found them quite a lot in both Beethoven's and Mozart's variations. But anyway, please take a look at this example. This is something I would like, but here Beethoven goes from his theme in F major to a variation in D minor and then on to Bb major so that's a little different. But something like that, could you help me with that?

By the way, In case you didn't know. The example is from Beethoven's WoO 76 variations. They are from my G. Henle Verlag book's and they kinda like to, next to the well-known things, also publish all the really unknown stuff.
Recently finished:

Bach: Art of Fugue - Contrapunctus 2, 4, 8, 9,
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110
Chopin: Ballade in F major, Op. 38
Brahms: Piano Concerto in D minor - First
 

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