ivation of the term consult the interesting
article in Grove's Dictionary, Vol. IV.]

[Footnote 83: A work before which Schumann said every musician should
prostrate himself in adoration.]

By the time of Haydn, the technical skill of composers had improved
sufficiently so that we find in his works some genuinely interesting
examples of the Variation form, _e.g._, the set on the well-known
Austrian hymn from the _Kaiser Quartet in C major_--in which each of
the five variations has a real individuality--and the _Variations in F
minor for Pianoforte_: remarkable as an early example of the varied
treatment of _two_ themes.

Most of Mozart's Variations are based upon popular themes and, in
general, may be considered as virtuoso pieces to show off the agility
of the performer. We find occasional examples, as in the Clarinet
Quintette and in the Sonata in D major, which are of more intrinsic
worth.

The genius of Beethoven first revealed the full possibilities of the
form. In fact, so remarkable was his work that such creative composers
as Cesar Franck and d'Indy consider the basic principles for our
modern development of music to be found in the Fugue of Bach and the
Varied Air of Beethoven. For, deadly dull as is the Variation form
when treated in a stereotyped manner, by very reason of its freedom
from arbitrary rules it may be a most elastic medium for the
expression of poetic genius. The composer has but to invent a striking
characteristic theme, rich in potential development, and then to let
it develop for as long as he can retain the interest of his hearers.
Likewise for a great orator the simple rule is to state a theme on
which something worth while may be said and then by presenting it in
new lights and with copious illustrations to drive the truth home. The
principal and significant changes which we owe to Beethoven are the
following: complete freedom in variety of key, so that at times (as in
his op. 34) each variation is in a new key; a frequent omission of the
rigid stops at the end of each variation, _e.g._, the Slow movement of
the _Fifth Symphony_ and the third movement of the _Trio_, op. 96, so
that a continuous flow of thought is preserved; the practice, so often
followed in modern literature, of founding variations on a double
theme--of which the Finale of the _Heroic Symphony_ is a striking
example. But the chief advance in Beethoven is the entirely new
conception of what variations should be; not, a