ccording to him, mere
mechanical manipulations of the subject matter, but vital products of
the imagination, as varied as the members of a human family having the
same mother. Beethoven's variations, in fact, often seem like a series
of character-pieces, each with its own individuality and yet retaining
an organic relationship to the main thought. His fondness for the form
and his mastery over it is seen by the frequency of its use in the
last Sonatas and String-Quartets. Every composer since Beethoven has
written one or more works in the Variation form; but we can mention
only the most beautiful examples and then pass on to the daring
conceptions of the modern school. The Variations by Schubert in his
String-Quartet in D minor on the Song, _Death and the Maiden_, will
amply repay study, and so will the _Variations Serieuses_, op. 54, for
the pianoforte by Mendelssohn. As for Schumann, he was very happy in
the use of this form, and his _Symphonic Etudes_, op. 13--in wealth of
fancy and freedom of treatment--are quite unparalleled. His Variations
for two pianofortes, op. 46, deserve also to be known. Among the
finest examples since Beethoven are the numerous sets by Brahms,
remarkable alike for emotional power, for free and yet logical
treatment of the material and for solidity of workmanship. They
include the _Variations on a theme from Handel_ for pianoforte, op.
24; the set for orchestra, op. 56a, on the _St. Anthony Choral_ of
Haydn; and the two sets, op. 35, on themes from Paganini--universally
conceded to be the most brilliant examples for the pianoforte in
recent literature.

To speak now particularly of the modern school, there are five
compositions in this form which, for their daring novelty and
sustained eloquence, should be familiar to every music-lover and heard
as often as possible. For they are elaborate works which must be
thoroughly known to be understood and loved. (1), There is the set in
Tchaikowsky's Pianoforte Trio in A minor, op. 50; noteworthy for
freedom of modulation and for the striking individuality given to the
different transformations of the theme--two of the changes being to a
Waltz and a Mazurka. (2), _The Symphonic Variations_ for Pianoforte
and Orchestra of Cesar Franck, based on two contrasting themes, one in
the minor mode and one with modulations to the major. The variations
are not numbered and there are no rigid stops; throughout the work
Franck's marvellous power of modulation an