ractice of variation writing, two of these
elements are changed at the same time, leaving only one element fixed,
and in some instances it is difficult to find exactly where any of the
original element of the theme remains. Beethoven began the development
of character variation in his Sonata, opus 26, the first movement of
which is in this form. He also did more or less in this direction in
his famous "Thirty-two Variations." The variations of Schumann in the
"Etudes Symphoniques" pass even beyond the bounds here defined. While
remaining fast upon the original harmonic foundation, measure for
measure, entirely new melodies come in and wholly different rhythms, so
that in many instances only a few notes of the original theme are
retained in any one variation. The student desiring to explore the
most advanced variation writing will find examples ready to his hand in
Brahms' variation on a theme of Haendel and the two books of variations
on a theme of Paganini. These may be considered as at present the
_ultima thule_ of variation-making art. The principle of the variation
lies at the foundation of very much that meets us in the higher
departments of music, even when the variation form is not heard of.
All modifications or amplifications of a theme belong essentially to
the variation type, and it is liberally applied to all long
compositions where the same material is used a number of times.

When a piece of music consists of two fully developed melodic ideas, it
is said to be binary in form, and these are all either song forms with
trio or small rondo forms. Nearly all of the slow movements of
Beethoven in the sonatas are binary forms, the dimensions of which may
vary extremely. The student desiring to investigate this part of the
subject more thoroughly is referred to the "Primer of Musical Forms,"
by W. S. B. Mathews (Arthur P. Schmidt & Co., Boston), where the
principles are more fully unfolded.

There is one form in modern music which is the type of so large a
proportion of extended instrumental movements that the student will do
well to master its peculiarities at the earliest possible moment. This
is the form sometimes called the sonata form or sonata-piece. The term
sonata was originally used in two senses: in its larger sense it
indicates an extended musical composition with three or four movements,
all which taken together form the sonata. By the term sonata-piece,
however, is meant the particular mov