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The variations, on the theme of the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphony no. 7 in A major (op. 92), exist in three versions, none of which were published in Schumann’s lifetime.
The first version, described by Robert Münster in his edition for Henle as version A, has eleven variations, of which the ninth and eleventh are incomplete.
The second version, version B, has nine variations, of which six are taken from version A, and three (the fourth, fifth and eighth) are new. The sixth, eighth and ninth variations are incomplete. Schumann re-used the fifth variation as the second of his Albumblätter (op. 124).
The third version, version C, has seven variations, of which five are taken from versions A and B, and two (the fifth and seventh) are new. All of the variations are complete.
For performance, it is effective to play either version C or to form a more extended set by combining variations from the different versions. The order suggested by Münster for the latter case is given in the table below.
| version C | version B | version A | Münster combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| var. 1 | var. 1 | var. 3 | var. 1 |
| var. 2 | – | var. 1 | var. 2 |
| var. 3 | var. 2 | var. 5 | var. 3 |
| – | – | var. 6 | var. 4 |
| var. 4 | var. 6 [incomplete] | var. 8 | var. 5 |
| – | – | var. 10 | var. 6 |
| – | var. 7 | var. 4 | var. 7 |
| var. 5 | – | – | var. 8 |
| – | var. 5 | – | var. 9 |
| var. 6 | – | var. 2 | var. 10 |
| – | var. 9 [incomplete] | var. 7 | var. 11 |
| var. 7 | – | – | var. 12 |
| – | var. 4 | – | var. 13 |
| – | – | var. 11 [incomplete] | var. 14 |
| – | var. 3 | var. 9 [incomplete] | var. 15 |
| – | var. 8 [incomplete] | – | – |
The set comprises seven variations.
Duration: 7' 30"
Difficulty: 4.5
The set comprises fifteen variations.
Duration: 16'
Difficulty: 4.5
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