Theme and variation forms
Chaconne
Variations over a repeated progression of chords. The Canon by Pachelbel is a good example of a chaconne. If you have not already listened to this (as an example of a canon), do so now. Notice how the whole work is based on a repeated chord sequence.
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Passacaglia
Variations over a ground bass. Listen to this famous twentieth-century example from Britten's opera 'Peter Grimes'. In the excerpt the ground bass, very quiet on pizzicato double basses at the opening, continues throughout as the music builds through a crescendo to the end of the excerpt.
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Theme and Variations
The theme is a melody, a tune which is the main idea for a composition. In theme and variations, the theme may form a whole section of the composition. The variations occur when the main theme or tune is altered, perhaps by adding extra notes, changing from major to minor or vice versa, changing harmony, rhythm or time signature, or when the theme is played in the bass, etc. Listen to part of the slow movement of Haydn's 'Surprise' Symphony, the movement with the surprise from which the symphony takes its name, which can be heard close to the beginning. The main theme is followed by some of the variations which go to make up the movement.
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