The Enigma of 'Variations': A Study of Stravinsky's Final Work for Orchestra

Abstract

In an article written for the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Tovey defined variations as 'the term given in music to groups of progressively developed versions of a complete self-contained theme, retaining the form of that theme though not necessarily its melody'. According to this definition, Stravinsky's Variations apparently could not be called variations at all. No readily perceptible versions of a theme are to be found in the component sections of Variations, since no theme as such is ever presented. Following Tovey's assertion that 'Variation writers may be scientifically classified into those who know their theme and those who do not', Stravinsky would certainly end up classified into the latter undesirable group. 1 Or would he? Although it is never stated as a theme in the piece, there is a series of notes upon which the work is ultimately based. In Stravinsky's words, 'My Variations were composed on the following pitch series, a succession of notes that came to my mind as a melody: