The Music Stem / The Musician's Library / Composer's Handbook / Theme and Variations
Composer's Handbook
Theme and variations states a tune and then repeats it in altered forms.
Keep an eight-bar tune recognizable while changing its rhythm and accompaniment.
Variation 1 in running eighths, variation 2 in minor, variation 3 as a waltz.
Mozart, Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman,” K. 265