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McMaster Music Analysis Colloquium
vol. 4, 2005, pp. 38-51
Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations:
A Study in Character
NAN COOLSMA
In an interview with Leo Smit at Harvard University in 1977, the composer Aaron
Copland stated that his Piano Variations “somehow filled a special niche in my
production. I think it was one of the first works where I felt that ‘This is me’ - that
somebody else taking the same theme, would have definitely written something
different. That’s only natural, but in my mind, the piece had a certain ‘rightness’ about
it.”1 What was it about this piece that was so expressive of the composer’s self? Could
the answer be found in its forceful, dramatic nature, in its tight organization, in the way
he drew the last possible nuance out of every phrase, in the way that he used four notes
as the building blocks for a complex work?
Copland saw that an answer to this question depended on his handling of a musical
“idea.” In the same interview, when asked about his piano literature, he replied:
How you go about writing pieces like [the piano pieces] would be a legitimate question for
anybody to ask. My answer is: you go about it by getting musical ideas that seem
pregnant with possibilities for development....but an idea that seems to have within
itself...the possibility for development, for being combined with other ideas that seem
nuggets of expressivity - those you hold onto for dear life...2
In Piano Variations, Copland found his ‘nugget of expressivity’ in a four-note motive, out
of which he was able to draw a whole repertoire of possibilities.
Having won the RCA Victor Symphonic Award of $5000 for his Dance Symphony earlier
in 1930, Copland had the financial security to concentrate on composing Piano
Variations in Bedford, New York. He dedicated them to his friend, writer Gerald Sykes.
On January 4, 1931, he premiered the piece at the Art Centre in New York. Despite
people’s stomping out, and the unfavorable reviews that followed, others saw the work in
a more positive light. Copland considered Paul Rosenfeld’s favorable reviews “very
1
Neil Butterworth, The Music of Aaron Copland (Toccata Press, 1985), 57.
2
Ibid., 199.
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brave.”3 That year he gave several other public performances, including one at the First
Yaddo Festival. In 1932, the renowned choreographer Martha Graham, drawn to the
“wonderful, strange vitality” of the Variations, produced the ballet Dithyrambic, a “difficult
solo dance, lasting about thirteen minutes.”4 Leonard Bernstein, who met the composer
in 1937, was introduced to Copland’s work through their mutual friend Arthur Berger,
who played the Piano Variations for him. It was a work that Bernstein was to love for the
rest of his life, hauling it out whenever anyone wanted him to play. Joked Bernstein, “I
could empty the room, guaranteed, in two minutes by playing this wonderful piece by
Aaron Copland.”5
The Variations, eleven minutes in length, and consisting of the theme statement, twenty
variations and a coda, is a darkly-coloured, dramatic work using continuous variation
form. Some debate has ensued on whether it can be considered atonal. Copland himself
referred to it as displaying “twelve-tonism,” but his interpretation of that term is more
liberal than the association it has currently with tonal serialism6. A strong feeling of
tonality pervades the piece, with a tonal centre most consistently around C#. An even
more striking feature is that the variations are like characters in a play, each one
delineated by prescriptive tempo and expressive markings, and each one unique
through the use of extreme contrast in dynamics, texture, tempo, rhythmic value of the
notes, and range (see Appendix A).
Like a prologue in a play, the theme introduces the raw material that Copland will
develop in the variations. Its beginning is a serious matter, opening grave and
deliberamente, at mm. ’ = 48. Each note is to be struck sharply, as indicated in the
expressive markings, as if to say, “Listen, we have something important to share with
you”. The four-note motive, E C D# and C#, contains the basic building blocks for the
whole work. Throughout the piece, the semitone, appearing frequently as a minor ninth,
and its complement, the major seventh, are privileged, providing some pungent
harmonies. But the motive affords other possibilities, as within it are also contained a
3
Richard Kostelanetz, Aaron Copland: A Reader. Selected Writings 1923 - 1972 (New York: Routledge,
2004), 352. About Rosenfeld’s review, Copland said, “V didn’t get good criticisms from the press in
general; it seemed from the standpoint of idiom and expressive character very odd and strange, and hard
as nails.”
4
Arnold Dobrin, Aaron Copland: His Life and Times (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1962), 116.
5
Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942 (New York: St. Martin’s/ Marek, 1984),
337.
6
Kostelanetz, 266. Copland described “twelve-tonism” as “nothing more than an angle of vision” that
should be seen as a method, not a style. “As a method it seems nowadays to be pointing in two opposite
directions: toward the extreme of ‘total organization’ with its concomitant electronic applications, and
toward a gradual absorption into what has become a very freely interpreted tonalism.” It seems to be the
latter branch of twelve-tonism that Copland pursues in Piano Variations.
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major second and a minor and major third, raw material for harmonic forms.
Ex. 1: Aaron Copland, Piano Variations, mm. 1-11, Theme.
As can be seen above, the theme is structured from five short phrases, which for ease of
reference have been labeled Sections I, II, III, IV and V. Separated by rests, together
they present an arch-like structure. A simple statement of the motive in a low register,
accompanied by a silently depressed C# (see Ex. 1), opens the theme. A chord
consisting of three notes from the motive, C, E, and C#, along with an added A,
punctuates the end of the phrase. After a fermata rest, this phrase is repeated with a
slight alteration of an added E5, thus introducing the idea that shifts in register will play a
significant role. The next phrase, made up of only three notes, stresses F#, which acts
as a high point. It is particularly this section that is expanded in future variations. The C
section plays octaves, and continues the registral movement, wide open intervals, and
the introduction of G#, and B, as if the notes C#, D#, E, G#, B and B# are an
amalgamation of V and i of C# minor. The theme statements ends with a kind of
codetta, taking three of the notes of the motive, E D# and C#, which also connects the
theme to the first variation. This five-part structural formula represents the architectural
basis for many of the later variations, although a few use binary form.
The theme introduces a number of other elements that will be developed later: texture,
in the accented playing of each note and the use of overtones in the silently depressed
C# in mm. 2 and 5; intervallic leaps in m. 8; metric variations in mm. 6 and 7; and
extreme dynamic contrast through the sforzandos in mm. 6, and 7, a piano in m. 9,
followed by an explosive sforzando in m. 10. The rhythmic shape of the opening
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statement of the motive, a short note-value followed by a longer and then two shorter
ones, foreshadows the development of this rhythmic relationship.
The overall structure of the Variations shows a mastery of organization. Not only does
Copland link each variation with the previous one in some way, but each variation also
draws on the four-note motive for its raw material. In addition, many variations use
thematic elements from previous variations. Consistent throughout is the way he uses
the motive as the raw material for his musical ideas. The result is a tightly woven fabric
of music that is nevertheless rich in texture and variety.
Piano Variations was not composed in the consecutive order of its finished state. States
Copland:
I am told that this is at odds with what I have written about the piece - that each variation
is meant to develop organically from the previous one and all contribute to a carefully
constructed whole. While this is so, it is also true that I worked on the variations
individually, not knowing exactly where or how they would eventually fit together. I cannot
explain this contradiction. One fine day when the time was right, the order of the
variations fell into place.7
Listening to the Variations confirms this statement. The whole piece falls into roughly
two halves, each having its own climax and denouement, and separated from each other
by the calm, sonorous eleventh variation. Each half subdivides into several smaller
sections, each of which develops a particular aspect of the theme, and the entire work
artfully unites into an organic whole through the reworkings of the four-note motive.
The following table gives an overview of this structure:
Table 1: Overall structure, Aaron Copland, Piano Variations.
Theme
V. 1-3
V. 4-5
V. 6-10
V. 11
V. 12-18
V. 19
V. 20
Coda
Use of
motive
restatement,
elaboration of
theme
based on
codetta
transpositions of
motive
bridge
gradual
dis- and
re-integration of
theme
interlu
de
finale,
transition to
coda
summarises
theme
elements
The first group, made up of the first three variations, begins gently and slightly faster
than the opening. The molto expressivo, the soft dynamics, and the decrescendos
reveal the quiet nature of V. 1. It is an almost direct quote of the theme, except that it
7
Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942 (New York: St. Martin’s/ Marek, 1984),
174.
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explores a wider expanse of the keyboard by first venturing down to the extreme bottom
with a C#1 in m. 12, and then decorating the right hand with D5 and E5 in mm. 16-17. The
F# introduced in the second statement of the theme gains greater prominence and helps
extend section II from its brief original statement. Thus Copland continues the idea of
elongation by the introduction of new tones and by shifts in register.
V. 2, which begins marcato, places Section I of the theme two octaves up in the first part
of its binary construction. In m. 21, a decoration consisting of the four notes of the
motive compressed harmonically a minor ninth apart highlights the melody (see Ex. 2).
This wide interval pares open the aural space, and offers up pungent tidbits of sound.
Instead of the four notes of the theme’s third section, Copland has inserted a sevenmeasure passage built on a thickened chordal texture, based on the motive and added
black notes, which carry this variation to its conclusion. Structurally, then, this variation
differs from the two surrounding it in having a two-part organization.
Ex. 2: Aaron Copland, Paino Variations, Variation 2, mm. 1-2.
V. 3, in simple, naive style, moves up the keyboard even farther, and states the motive
in its original order in the right hand. The same notes are used in the left hand but in
major seventh relationship to the right hand. In m. 32, B# is added in both hands four
octaves apart, and in mm.33-34, 36, and 39-40, delicate echoes in the extreme high
register, doubled in the bass, punctuate the end of each of the phrases. A skipping motif
consisting of a dotted eighth- sixteenth note, introduced in m.34, adds to the lighthearted
mood. Throughout these three variations, the gradually increasing tempo and dynamic
level drive the musical line forward.
V. 4 and 5 seem like twins that are hard to tell apart at first listen. Both variations are
built on the three notes of the codetta, but in altered form. Both use a binary
construction. Instead of a quarter-note E, as in m. 10, the opening note has been
transformed into a thirty-second chord, a rhythmic diminution of the skipping figure of the
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previous variation. The chord is based on three notes from the motive.
Closer attention, however, reveals some interesting differences. V. 4 has a quieter
character, beginning each phrase mezzo forte, and then subduing to piano. It begins
with two voices built in thirds: the bass, constructed from a harmonic presentation of the
motive, settles into an ostinato pattern, maintained throughout the whole variation; the
upper voice recalls melodically the final phrase of the theme. In the somewhat louder,
more extroverted second section, a third voice recalling the expanded second section of
V. 2 is added on top of the texture.
The twin V. 5 announces itself more brazenly with a sforzando thirty-second note chord;
but instead of the notes C D# E, this chord is made up of C, F# and G, the last two being
pitches that were introduced in the theme as outsiders to the motive. Copland continues
the idea of an ostinato pattern in the bass, the rhythmic diminution of the opening note,
and the layering of the notes of the motive to form new chords. But here Copland opens
up the chords to a major ninth interval in the ostinato pattern. The right hand overlays
the notes F# and G on the pattern established in the previous variation, suggesting a
transposition of the motive into D# E F# and G. In m. 49 all the notes of the two
tonalities are present (See Ex. 3). This transposition adds a piquant tonal dimension to
the variation techniques. Also, new notes are added on top of the texture as well as in
the middle, giving prominence to G and A. The decorative B D figure in high register
marks the end of the second section. A sixteenth note upward-sweeping pattern leads to
an A C# E chord that ends the variation.
Ex. 3. Aaron Copland, Piano Variations, Variation 5, mm.1-2.
Although carefully prepared in the previous variation through the changing pitch level of
the motive, the bold V. 6 is sharply different in character. It begins the third grouping with
a loud clangorous melody that speaks sempre marcato in short phrases appearing in
pairs, using the motive now transposed to E# E F#G. The first of these paired phrases
states its message in harsh quarter notes, but the E# accents in high register add sparkle
to the texture. The sixteenth note rhythmic motive, first presented at the end of the last
variation, mutters a reply.
V. 7 continues using the transposed motive, but presents it in quarter note octaves
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which leap boldly across the keyboard in short five-octave utterances. This time each of
the phrase endings is marked with a powerful sforzando chord. The movement is archlike, in that in the first part of the variation the phrases stride upwards, then reach a kind
of apex in the middle on an octave D, and then leap down again. The final phrase
marches in tripled octaves down the whole length of the keyboard from the highest G to
the lowest E. It ends in a strangely melodic sforzando E major chord.
V. 8 continues the use of quarter notes, but this time the motion is much more subdued.
It seems to be at war with itself, the increased tempo in contradiction to the blurred
texture and the lighter mezzo forte dynamics. The theme appears in a new guise: G A#
B# B, but, in keeping with the more introverted nature of the variation, it sounds in a
lower register, and is covered by chordal movement built on the E major chord borrowed
from V. 7. At m. 85, the dropping of the pedal action, the subito piano and unexpected
sforzandos mark a change in the character, foreshadowing the next variation.
V. 9, seemingly warmhearted and open, presents the motive cantabile in the original
tonality in right-hand octaves. But underneath, in strident contrast, louder and offset
rhythmically, the motive asserts itself as E F G G#. The effect is a binary separation or
vertical construction. Then, although Copland has denied any reference to the earlier
work, the left hand states G F A# F#, in imitation of the BACH motive in Bach’s Art of the
Fugue. The bass then alternates between these two ideas until the variation ambles into
the next one.
Like its predecessor, V. 10 displays binary qualities, but this time in a more typical A B
structure. The first part, played marcato at double forte in the first half, marks the climax
of this grouping through its transparent octave melody, accented with marcato dotted
half four-note chords in the bass. It reaches the apex of the first ten variations in m. 103
with the minor ninth interval consisting of a D# octave in the left hand and an E octave in
the right hand. The second part of this variation recalls the codetta idea of the theme,
using the rhythmic formation of V. 4 and 5. Each of the three short phrases, which begin
sforzando and gradually diminish in sound, bring the turmoil of the first half of the piece
to a pianissimo end.
V. 11 presents a striking contrast to the variations that bracket it. Its mood is slow and
serene, created through the restful chord in the left hand, which underlies the clearly
stated motive in a new tonal configuration: D E# F and F#. Between these two voices a
third voice undulates at the beginning, chromatically exploring the minor third span
between A and F#. Then it reaches tentatively downward to F, disappears into the left
hand, and begins again in m 119. This time, however, it states the inverted theme,
transposed into its farthest position from the opening tonality as G# B# G and A (See Ex.
4). Thus the motive, in the variation that acts as the break between the two almost
symmetrical halves of the piece, is buried in the middle voice, in tritone relationship with
the original.
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Ex. 4: Aaron Copland, Piano Variations, Variation 11, mm. 5-12.
The second half of the Variations cannot be so easily subdivided as the first. Its
movement is more consistent and continuous, from the lighthearted V. 12 to the intense
V. 19.
Subito allegro, V. 12 dances playfully in the upper terrain of the keyboard. A grace-note
figure using the pitches of V.11's motive embellishes the scherzando sixteenth notes.
Again the texture is transparent with the use of octaves in the right hand, and the wide
open space between the intervals. This time, the light texture of the right hand is offset
with a full dotted half-note in the bass, which completes the four-note motive, in the
transposition of V. 11, that is, G# B# G and A . The structure and presentation of this
variation is as close to the original statement of the theme as we have been since V. 1.
But just as the atmosphere seemed to lighten, V. 13, muttering its threats in even more
spare phrases than V. 12, eliminates all vertical presentation of the motive. Instead it
keeps the short notes of V. 12 as well as its transposition, and combines it with the
ornamental figure of V. 6 transformed into a swirling melody. Each of the four phrases is
punctuated by an ominous E# at the bottom of the keyboard.
This swooping melody is reconfigured into the ornament that leads to the statement of
the motive in its original tones and quarter-note time value in the fiery V. 14. But V. 14
adds an innovation that gives it a unique alternation between the statement of the
motive in highly accented quarter notes in middle register, preceded by the ornamental
figure borrowed from V.13, and marcato and meno forte eighth-notes stating the motive
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in lower register. Each phrase crashes to an end with the lowest C on the keyboard. The
rapid con brio tempo and breathless alternation between the two ways of stating the
theme set the pulse racing. The variation takes a breath at the powerfully accented
quarter-note F#6, E#5, and C1 at its end, and then plunges on into the next variation.
Keeping the same pattern of oscillating between two musical ideas, V. 15 appropriates
the eighth-note iteration of the theme as its first idea, this time in heavy staccato
articulation. This is offset by a swirling pattern, reminiscent of the ornament of V. 14, but
purified to a repeating E C pattern, underlain with a trichord. As in the previous
variation, these two patterns alternate rapidly. The swirling triplet motif brings the
variation to a forte close.
In non legato style, V. 16 continues the same fast-paced alternation between musical
ideas, but in short, nervous two-bar phrases that begin mezzo forte and end sforzando.
It is as if the more integrated variations are disintegrating, for pieces of previous
variations are pasted together in random order. Triplets, quarter notes, dotted quarter
notes, melodic motive statements, octaves and chords follow each other in rapid
succession. The one constant is that the pitches of the original theme are present,
though randomly.
V. 17 has a sharp, precise character, and maintains the same tempo sempre fortissimo,
but clear organization resembling the structure of the theme begins to assert itself. The
first two phrases state the motive notes, first in harsh minor ninth eighth notes, and then
in a swirling sixteenth-note pattern that recalls the ornamental pattern of V. 12 and 13.
The third phrase consists of two patterns from the previous variation, triplet groups in the
bass, and chords in the treble. The final phrase repeats the style of the first phrases,
creating a lopsided arch. Jaunty jazz rhythms and the sharp attack make this variation
dash along into the lighter V. 18.
With its subito pianissimo and scherzando, V. 18 offers a striking contrast to the
previous variation. Its breathless pace and light eighth-note texture recalls the
playfulness of V. 12. It differs from that variation in that legato phrases are balanced by
wide-open staccato motive notes (see Ex. 6). Throughout this variation, the mood
gradually quietens and the pace slows down, as if gathering its resources for the final
onslaught of sound.
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Ex. 5: Aaron Copland, Piano Variations, Variation 18, mm. 1-2.
V. 19, a brief interlude before the dramatic ending, begins with a greatly slowed down,
piano statement of the motive in thickly chordal half notes. Then it launches into a subito
allegro presentation of the motive in eighth-note chords. Syncopated rhythms consisting
of various configurations of the motive drive the variation forward, as the dynamics
increase with each phrase to fortissimo.
V. 20 is like the finale of a drama. It recalls, in style as well as note configuration, many
of the preceding variations. Highly complex, it has a rounded binary form, as indicated
by the expressive markings. The first section, marked “well articulated,” uses several
rhythmic motifs, which alternate, as in V.14-16. Recalling V. 12 and 13, the first rhythm
is lightly articulated with short, spare sixteenth- and thirty-second note values. The
second is a partial diminution of the rhythm of V. 4. The uneven rhythm hearkens back
to the jazzy patterns of V. 17. The short middle section sets off at a brisk pace, marked
brillante, allegro vivo, and triple forte. The ostinato pattern in the bass, built on F G A#, a
transposed version of the main motive, adds excitement. The final section, poco
accellerando ancora, increases the tempo to a pulse-racing mm. 208 to the quarter note.
It consists of the spare rhythmic figure of the first section of this variation, and continues
in it for 18 measures. In a sputtering gesture, comes to a hesitating end.
But as if to say this is no way to end a dramatic piece like this, the coda begins at first
tentatively, subito lento moderato, with a pattern borrowed from V. 4, then broadens out
into longer chords, and, like V. 3, 5 and 6, adds echoes in top and bottom registers.
Everything is built on the notes of the motive. In a grand final statement of the motive,
the piu largamente ancora brakes the tempo even further to the speed of the opening. It
takes a final bow on a double sforzando conflated V- i chord ( G# B#, and C#E G#),
sustained with a C#, which rings from the bottom of the keyboard (see Ex. 6).
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Ex. 6: Aaron Copland, Piano Variations, Coda, final measure.
It is hard to imagine that four notes could present a composer with such possibilities.
Using the motive presented in the first three bars as raw material, he has transformed
these four notes harmonically, melodically, transpositionally, and rhythmically into new
material. He has used it as an ornament, as the basis for a pedal point chord in the
bass, and as a means of transition between variations. By combining it with other
musical tools, registral shifts, dynamic contrast, layering of the texture, tempo changes,
and by endowing it with character, Copland has created a masterpiece full of rich
musical ideas. These ideas were developed in later compositions for the keyboard,
Piano Sonata (1941) and Piano Fantasy (1955-57). The movement entitled ‘Dogmatic’ in
Statements (1935) quotes extensively from the Variations. In 1957 he completed an
orchestral transcription of the work.
Clearly, he held onto that germ of an idea, the seed for Piano Variations, “for dear life.”8
8
Butterworth,199.
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Appendix A
Var.
Expressive
Dyn.
markings
The
me
1
Structure
Transitions
5- phrase arch
elements of motive
like theme
added B#
binary
D#
like theme
E
C
80
like theme, with
extended
third
section
--
like 4
none: contrast
5 phrases
D#,
F#,
(transposition)
4 phrases
E major chord leads
to E in rt. hand
5 phrases
Bβ
5 phrases
quarter
continue
binary
motive leads
pedal chord
bass
5 phrases
none: contrast
4 phrases
same transposition
of motive
M
M
sharply,
deliberamente
sff
molto espress.
p/pp
48
54
2
marcato
p
72
3
simply, naively
p
10
0
4
molto legato
p-f/mf
5
6
sff
marcato clangorous
f
11
2
7
boldly
sff
--
8
blurred but note
accents
mf, p, sf
9
warmly, cantabile
sff, mf-f
sus
10
marc. e legato
ff - f
13
2
--
76
11
12
lento
espress.ivo
liberamente
scherzando
G
molto
pp
e ppp
-
to
in
66
mp pp
12
6
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mp
5 phrases
thirty-second note
figure
becomes
ornament, in
original tonality
4 repeats of 2
alternating
phrases
C and Eβ
13
8
14
con brio
f
17
6
15
heavy staccato
mf, f, ff
--
3 repeats of 2
alternating
phrases
C and E
16
non legato
mf, sf
--
many phrases
E in rt. hand
17
very sharply
ff
--
4-phrase arch
eighth-note pattern
continues
18
scherzando
pp (mf)
3 paired phrases
none: contrast
19
meno mosso, subito p, mf, f,
allegro
ff
10
4
two phrases
double
forte
(maintains intensity)
three phrases
gradual lessening of
dynamics, full bar
rest
15
2
20
Cod
a
a) not too fast, well
articulated
b)
allegro
vivo,
brillante
c) accellerando
ff/p
a) pesante
b)
largamente,
marcato
c) piu largamente
f
fff
sf/
sff
fff
18
4
20
8
three phrases
72
66
58
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Bibliography
Berger, Arthur. Aaron Copland. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1953.
Butterworth, Neil. The Music of Aaron Copland. Toccata Press, 1985.
Copland, Aaron. Piano Variations. New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1932.
Copland, Aaron. Piano Variations. David Lively, pianist. Etcetera Records B.V., 1988.
Copland, Aaron, and Vivian Perlis. Copland: 1900 through 1942. New York: St. Martin’s/
Marek, 1984.
Peter Dickinson, Editor. Copland Connotations: Studies and Interviews. Woodbridge,
Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2002.
Dobrin, Arnold. Aaron Copland: His Life and Times. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell
Company, 1962.
Kostelanetz, Richard, ed. Aaron Copland: A Reader. Selected Writings 1923 - 1972.
New York: Routledge, 2004.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/p/pollack-copland.html. Accessed November 4,
2005.
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