Twelve variations in C major on the song "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman"

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WA Mozart, detail from a painting by Johann Nepomuk della Croce (c. 1780)

The twelve variations on the French song "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman" KV 265 (300e) are a piano work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , which he wrote at the end of 1781 for the pianist Josepha Barbara von Auernhammer .

As the theme of the 12 variations , Mozart chose the melody of the eponymous French song , which is also the basis for other songs such as the lullaby Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or the Christmas carol Tomorrow comes Santa Claus .

The work is very popular and is often used in piano lessons. The entertaining variations follow the norm, but contain technical difficulties and surprising harmonic , rhythmic and contrapuntal turns.

To the music

Incipit of the subject

The two-part theme, made up of quarters , includes a sixth and is played by the right hand, while the left hand also accompanies quarters. It moves from the tonic ( C major ) via the subdominant ( F major ) in the third and dominant ( G major ) in the fifth measure back to the tonic in measure 8. In the first eight measures of the subsequent clause (measures 9 to 16) Mozart takes up the downward movement from G to D twice and leads over to the repetition of the antecedent.

The pianistic challenges include scale play in the first, second, seventh and last, arpeggios in the third and fourth, syncopation in the fifth, bass trills in the sixth and the overlapping of hands in the tenth variation, while the virtuoso finale from 2/4 - merges into 3/4 time and, with a two-part trailer and 36 bars, is longer than the previous variations, which, like the theme, only comprise 24 bars each.

Transitions in the compositional ideas can be seen between the first and second and third and fourth variations.

The sixteenth notes of the first variation played by the right hand in the second accompany the counterpoint played melody with the left hand. There Mozart enriches the topic with longing chromatics at the point where the words “peut-on vivre sans amant?” Of the French song could be heard. The triplet movement of the right hand from Variation III is transferred to the bass accompaniment in the following piece.

Variation No. 8

The syncopatio of the fifth variation leads to twists that are based on the figured bass and can also be found in the first, second and fourth variations of the violin sonata in G major, K. 379.

The eighth variation surprises with the key of C minor , canonical entries and dissonances , while the eleventh with the abruptly reduced tempo ( Adagio ) and numerous ornaments . The ascending motif of the eleventh variation is reminiscent of that of the cantable Andante from the 21st Piano Concerto, which, however, does not go over the subdominant, but reaches the dominant straight away. These means lift both pieces out of the cycle and give them a serious character.

In contrast to the previous variations, the last piece in 3/4 time has a tempo indication ( Allegro ) and forms the effective conclusion of the work with its trills, two-handed 16th note movements, runs and a coda .

Origin and background

First publication of the original in Recueil de Romances , 1774

The melody used as a template for the variations was first published in 1761. The title Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman is best known as the beginning of a nursery rhyme. However, the original text , a love poem in the style of the shepherd poetry , was aimed at adults and was not intended for children. It first appeared in print together with Melody in 1774.

The catchy theme can be found - in addition to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Tomorrow comes Santa Claus - in many other works. These include the Allegretto with 18 variations in G major on “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman” by Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach , the 12th movement ( Fossiles ) from the Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns , the Ten Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" by Erwin Schulhoff and the variations on a children's song for piano and orchestra, op. 25 by Ernst von Dohnányi .

Mozart composed the work shortly after settling in Vienna for his student Josepha Barbara von Auernhammer, to whom he later dedicated the sonatas for piano and violin KV 296 and KV 376–380.

In addition to his piano sonatas , the variations are among the most common compositions for the instrument and comprise 17 works. His early pieces reveal numerous role models such as Leopold Mozart , Joseph Haydn and Johann Christian Bach .

Except for the variations of the first movement of the A major sonata , the works show only a few approaches of individual character and compositional condensation. If you look at how it was made, you can understand why Mozart held back here. For example, he was often asked to improvise on a given topic in front of an unqualified auditorium , which gave impulses for later writing (KV 398 and 455). Then it happened that he wanted to impress figures of the nobility or other composers. One of them was the French cellist Jean-Pierre Duport , who from 1787 was “surintendant of royal chamber music” at the court of Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. In 1789 Mozart processed the minuet from his Cello Sonata No. 6 in D major in his Duport Variations KV 573.

literature

  • Ulrich Konrad (Ed.), Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Twelve Variations in C for piano on the French song "Ah, vous dirai-je Maman" KV 265 (300e). Facsimile based on the autograph fragments and reproduction of the first print. Munich 2001.
  • Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Twelve Variations in C major on the French song “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman” KV 265 (300e). In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart and Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-476-02077-0 , p. 542.

Web links

Commons : Twelve Variations in C major on the song “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman”  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Twelve Variations in C major on the French song "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" KV 265 (300e). In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart and Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-476-02077-0 , p. 542.
  2. ^ So Eberhard Hüppe: Mozart and the concept of the chamber music dialogue. In: Matthias Schmidt (ed.): Mozart's piano and chamber music (= The Mozart Handbook. Volume 2). Laaber. Laaber 2006, ISBN 3-89007-462-6 , p. 94.
  3. ^ Simone Wallon: Romances et vaudevilles français dans les variations pour piano et violon de Mozart. In: Erich Schenk (Ed.): Report on the International Musicological Congress Vienna Mozart Year 1956, June 3rd to 9th. Böhlau, Graz 1958, DNB 450388395 , pp. 666-672.
  4. ↑ James J. Fuld: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star . In: Book of World-Famous Music . 5th edition. Dover Publications, New York 2000, ISBN 0-486-41475-2 , pp. 593 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ Christoph Rueger: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Variations, Variations on the song “Ah! vous dirai-je Maman ”. In: ders. (Ed.): Harenberg piano music guide. 600 works from the baroque to the present day. Meyers, Mannheim 2004, ISBN 3-411-76101-6 , p. 595.
  6. ^ Similar to Otto Emil Schumann : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Variations, fantasies, unique pieces. In: Handbook of Piano Music. Heinrichshofen´s Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1979, ISBN 3-7959-0006-9 , p. 195.
  7. ^ Klaus Wolters: Handbook of the piano literature. Piano music for two hands, Atlantis Musikbuch Verlag, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-254-00248-2 , p. 287.