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Variations on an Original Theme for piano, Op. 21 No. 1

185718 min

This guide follows Brahms’s Variations on an Original Theme for piano, Op. 21 No. 1 (1857) in one part (theme and variations).

Recording: Sean Chen (piano)

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Follow all 12 sections as they play

Theme and variations0:09–17:58

The is stated first, and each of the eleven variations then takes 18 , so new ones follow at that steady interval. 5 is a in contrary motion. Variations 8, 9 and 10 are in the minor and reach the stormy in 9. 11 to the major with long trills over the note and runs on into a long that recalls earlier variations.

  1. Opening
  2. 1

Section boundaries in music are not always sharp; a transition may be felt over a pause or a held chord.

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Johannes BrahmsPianoRomantic periodTheme and variations

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