The Oxford Handbook of Musical Variation

The Oxford Handbook of Musical Variation offers new research into what is arguably the most fundamental and essential musical process. Over forty-two chapters, the book offers new insights into variational workings in music from Corelli to jazz, and in both instrumental and vocal music. Throughout, the chapters also explore new ways of thinking about musical form, rhythm and meter, harmony, expression and narrative, music cognition, and pedagogy through variation.

List of contents

• Acknowledgments


• List of Contributors


• Introduction


• Jeffrey Swinkin


• Part I. Variation Forms


• A. Introduction


• Chapter 1. The Variation Tradition: Some Themes


• Roman Ivanovitch


• B. Cognition


• Chapter 2. Music Analysis as the Cognition of Similarity Relationships: The Music of Charles Mingus as a Case Study


• Morgan Patrick and Daniel Shanahan


• C. Methodology


• Chapter 3. What Variations Do: Toward a Methodology for Analyzing Tonal Variation Sets


• Jeffrey Swinkin


• Chapter 4. Difference, Repetition, and Crystallization: A Deleuzian View of Variation Form


• Kai Yin (Eric) Lo


• D. Historical Vantages


• Chapter 5. The Ground-Bass Variation Dances of Marin Marais


• Geoffrey Burgess


• Chapter 6. Variation at the Intersection of Composition and Performance in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries


• Dorian Bandy


• Chapter 7. The Development and Deconstruction of Variation Form in Nineteenth-Century Paris


• Kristin Taavola


• E. Schenkerian Considerations


• Chapter 8. Reexamining the Challenges of Variation Form for Schenkerian Analysis


• Hiu-Wah Au


• Chapter 9. Zusammenhang, Verknüpfung, and Verkettung: In Defense of Schenker's Model of Coherence in his Analysis of Brahms' Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel


• Marc Rigaudière


• F. Harmony


• Chapter 10. Unraveling Tonic Identity and Function in Reger's "Mozart" Variations


• David Heetderks


• G. Expressive Approaches


• Chapter 11. Topics and Tropes in Mozart's Variations for Piano


• Melanie Lowe


• Chapter 12. Alternating Variations, Structure, and Subjectivity in Beethoven's Piano Trio in E-flat, op. 70, no. 2, Second Movement


• Jeffrey Perry


• Chapter 13. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Symphonic Variations on an African Air: Structure, Narrative, Meaning


• John L. Snyder


• H. Extrageneric Variation


• Chapter 14. Variations in Sonata Form


• Caitlin Martinkus


• Chapter 15. The Expressive Function of Variation in the German Lied


• Harald Krebs


• Chapter 16. Dreaming through Variation: Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Langston Hughes' "Dream Variations"


• Rachel Lumsden


• I. Response


• Chapter 17. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Variation Form


• Elaine Sisman


• Part II. Variation Techniques


• A. Introduction


• Chapter 18. What Is Developing Variation? Contextualizing Three Different Accounts of the Motivic Variation Process Within the Larger Field of Thematic-Motivic Analysis


• Jack Boss


• B. Techniques


• Chapter 19: Contrapuntal Variation in Renaissance Vocal Polyphony: The Case of the Bass-line Soggetto


• Peter Schubert


• Chapter 20. Varied Repetition as a Unifying Element in Select Works by Isabella Leonarda


• Sarah Marlowe


• Chapter 21. The Role of Bellini in the Evolution of Chopin's Approach to Nocturne Melody


• David Kasunic


• Chapter 22. Recurring Themes in Verismo Opera


• Ji Yeon Lee


• Chapter 23. Themes and Motifs: Orchestral Toning and Situational Variation in Early Film Accompaniment Practice


• James Buhler


• Chapter 24. The Pitch-Class Motive as Lacanian Symptom: The Case of Prokofiev's Piano Sonata no. 6


• Michael L. Klein


• Chapter 25. Variation in Musical Minimalism: Technique, Process, and Form


• George Adams


• Chapter 26. Canonic Machines: Repetition and Progressive Variation in Gubaidulina's Fourth String Quartet


• Judith Lochhead


• C. Cyclicity


• Chapter 27. Cyclic Unity in Dvorák's Later Chamber Music: A Reinvigoration of Classical Strategies in the Late-Nineteenth Century


• Peter H. Smith


• Chapter 28. Themes, (Leit)motives, and Cycles in Belle Époque Vocal Music


• Stephen Rumph


• D. Intertextuality


• Chapter 29. Brahms' Sonata for Piano and Clarinet in F Minor, op. 120, no. 1: Hidden Echoes of the Matthew Passion Chorale?


• Edward Klorman


• Chapter 30. Brahms's Variation Technique in the Service of Expressive Doubling


• Heather Platt


• Chapter 31. Refractions Through Metal: Variations of Sound, Form, and Musical Subjectivity in Metal Cover Songs


• Lori Burns and Patrick Armstrong


• Chapter 32. Themes and (Improvised) Variations in Modern Jazz Palimpsests


• Ben Baker


• Chapter 33: Entextualization, Generalization, and Practice in Clara Wieck-Schumann's Early Piano Variations


• Andrew Malilay White


• E. Response


• Chapter 34. Glosses on Variation Techniques


• Jonathan Dunsby


• Part III. Performing Variations


• Chapter 35. Ornamentation in the French Romance


• Nathan Dougherty


• Chapter 36. Analysis, Performance, and Reconsidering the Telos Narrative in Two Beethoven Variation Sets


• Cecilia Oinas


• Chapter 37. Between Coherence and Dissociation: Performative Form in the Performance History of Beethoven's "Diabelli" Variations, op. 120


• Christian Utz and Majid Motavasseli


• Chapter 38. Variation in Central Javanese Gamelan Music


• Sarah Weiss


• Part IV. Pedagogy and Disciplinarity


• Chapter 39. Variation and Thematic Techniques in World Musics: Three Case Studies and Implications for Music Theory Pedagogy


• Jane Piper Clendinning


• Chapter 40. Clausulae-Pairs in Multiple-Bass Chorales


• Derek Remes, Victor Duy Phan, and Mark Gotham


• Chapter 41. Variation Counterpoint in Eighteenth-Century Naples and Bologna


• Peter van Tour


• Chapter 42. Bodies: A Refrain


• Vivian Luong


• Index

About the author

Jeffrey Swinkin is Associate Professor of Music (Theory) at The University of Oklahoma. He has published many essays on a wide array of topics, including Adorno, Beethoven, chromaticism, form theory, musical meaning, pedagogy, performance and analysis, and performance practice. He is the author and editor of several books, including Performative Analysis: Reimagining Music Theory for Performance and Teaching Performance: A Philosophy of Piano Pedagogy.

Product details

• Assisted by: Swinkin Jeffrey (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 29.09.2025
• EAN: 9780197645352
• ISBN: 978-0-19-764535-2
• Illustrations: 362
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > Music theory; MUSIC / History & Criticism, PERFORMING ARTS / General, Other performing arts, Music reviews & criticism, Music reviews and criticism