Ludwig • Van• Beethoven (1770-1827) had composed numerous piano compositions which have a enormous impact on the music development, especially in the variations. All his piano compositions are all holding a deep and intimated relationship with variations. Before 1800, most of Beethoven's variations are composed for the keyboards. After 1800, Beethoven started to use the variations in all kinds of music composition. This time Beethoven began experimenting with new techniques. After 1815, variations became the most notable characteristic of the music compositions in his late ages. The technique of composing variations in Beethoven's music is very important and is a worth discussing . Therefore, I want to discuss the variations in Beethoven's piano compositions in this thesis.

In the begin of this thesis, I will introduce the definition, history, types, techniques and features of the variations in Beethoven's piano compositions. Next, I will discuss about the ways that the variations be used in Beethoven's piano compositions. This discussion will be divided into four sections; The first section will focus on the themes and variation techniques in the Beethoven's early ages. Second section will be mainly discussing about piano variations in his mid-ages. In the third section, I will introduce and discuss about the piano variation composing style in Beethoven's late age. In the section four, I will do some analysis on the variations which in other kinds of music compositions. Last but not the least, I will introduce the life story of Beethoven and do a complete analysis on the style, feature and structure of variations by using “Eroica Variations” in E flat major opus 35 for example.

Program:

Johann Sebastian Bach：The Well–Tempered Clavier Prelude and Fugue in C minor,BWV 847

Ludwig van Beethoven：“Eroica Variations” in E flat major,Op.35

Franz Schubert：Piano Sonata in a minor,op.42,D 845

York Bowen：Toccata,op.155