Otherwise known as Mozart's "Twelve Variations in C Major on 'Ah Vous Dirai-Je Maman.'" Mozart wrote these variations while in Vienna, no doubt to capitalize on the emerging interest there in piano playing. In a letter to his father he remarked that "This is surely piano country!" Music was a major form of entertainment in Viennese drawing rooms and salons, and any socialite worth his or her salt was educated on an instrument, with the piano being the status symbol of choice for serious party animals.
Based on a popular French folk song, these simple variations were tailor-made for the Viennese crowd, and Mozart wrote in the elementary yet charming style of variation that appealed to composers of the day. First, the statement of the theme in the most childlike fashion. You may notice the A-A-B-A form of the theme, based on four-measure phrases. Mozart presents it minus fancy embellishments, since those will be added later. As you listen to the following variations, see if you can answer the following questions:
-- Which variation is based on a triplet rhythm (where each beat is divided into threes) and leaping arpeggios (chords played note by note)?
-- Which variation is based on a jazzed up right hand part?
-- Which variation is based on a jazzed up left hand part?
-- Do all these variations follow the A-A-B-A form?
There are twelve variations in the set and Mozart wouldn't mind if you invented a few of your own.... Incidentally, Mozart wrote these the same year he married Constanze. Perhaps Wolfgang had babies on the brain with this most famous of children's themes.
