Themes and Variations in Music and Literature

IN ITS BROAD SENSE, the term variation applies to both music and literature and refers to the modification of something given (Das Bach- Lexikon, entry for “Variation,” 531). As such, it is a fundamental principle of design. Literary definitions of variation tend to focus on this aspect, including reference to lexical, syntactical, and phonological variation as a means of maintaining interest amidst repetitive structures (i.e., in poetry) or of upsetting readers’ expectations (Leech, 256–57). In music, however, there is also a more specific definition of variation that is exemplified by not only Bach's Goldberg Variations, but also by Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and numerous others both before and since. “Im engeren Sinne sind Variationen, wie man sie vor allem in der europäischen Musik der letzten Jahrhunderte findet, längere oder kürzere Folgen von Veränderungen über ein gewöhnlich vorangestelltes Thema” (In a narrower sense, variations as they primarily are found in European music of the last centuries are longer or shorter series of modifications on a theme that is usually presented at the outset; Das Bach-Lexikon, “Variation,” 531). In music—in contrast to literature—variation is thus not only a principle of composition but also an established form.

The term theme also has different connotations in literature and music, and thus needs to be clarified here before I turn to the analysis of novels based on this form. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians defines a “theme” as follows: