Arioso with Variations, H. 351
C. P. E. Bach (attributed) (1714–1788) · sheet music
- Time 2/4
- Levels 7
- Passages 2
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
C. P. E. Bach (attributed), German classical (1714–1788). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at level 7; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 33–36 for both hands together.
The hardest stretch is bars 33–36 at level 7.
Your practice path
Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Arioso with Variations, H. 351.
- Hands together · bars 33–36 level 7
How to play Arioso with Variations, H. 351
- Tempo:An arioso theme is song-like, so play the theme at a flowing but relaxed pace and keep that tempo steady as the variations get busier.
- Right hand:In the faster variations, group the sixteenth notes in fours and let the hand stay close to the keys.
- Left hand:Keep the left hand light and precise; it supplies the harmony and should never interrupt the right-hand decoration.
- Hands together:Learn each variation as a separate piece: practice hands alone, then together slowly, before linking it to the next.
- Fingering:The 1765 printing in Löhlein's method gives fingering for the theme and every variation, so a fingered edition based on it is a useful guide to period choices.
- Dynamics:Aim for contrast between variations: soften the intimate ones and add weight to the more brilliant ones.
- Practice:Compare the theme to each variation: if you can sing the theme, you can hear the original shape inside the decoration.
Common mistakes
- Playing every variation at the same loudness and speed. Fix: Give each variation a distinct mood and plan the dynamics in advance.
- Overpedaling Baroque-style figuration on a modern piano. Fix: Use very little pedal and let the fingers carry the legato.
- Losing the theme's outline under the decoration. Fix: Play only the structural notes of each variation first, then add the ornaments back.
Structure: theme and variations
A short, songlike theme in A major is followed by a chain of variations that keep its harmonic plan while changing the surface: the figuration gets busier, the hands trade roles, and the writing grows more demanding. The six-variation early version and the eight-variation 1765 version differ in the number and order of the variations.
- Theme · Arioso theme
- A simple, singing melody over a plain bass; the clearest view of the harmonic outline before it is decorated.
- Early variations · Decorated melody
- The tune is broken into running sixteenth notes in one hand while the other keeps a steady foundation; side-steps toward related keys bring in extra sharps.
- Later variations · Busier textures
- The running figures pass between the hands and the left hand takes a more active role, so both staves need equally careful reading.
About Arioso with Variations, H. 351
This theme and variations in A major is catalogued as H. 351 and has traditionally been credited to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The complete edition of his works prints it among works of uncertain authorship, in two versions: one with six variations and one with eight.
Six manuscript copies of the six-variation version name Bach as composer, and several were written by the same copyists who copied variations that are certainly his. An expanded version with eight variations was printed in 1765 as the last and hardest of the beginner pieces in Georg Simon Löhlein's keyboard method, the Clavier-Schule, with fingering throughout.
The edition notes that the piece landed in Löhlein's book apparently to Bach's displeasure, and judges the early version substantial enough to be possibly authentic. Variation was central to Bach's art: his 1760 Sonatas with Varied Reprises argue that varied repeats are indispensable, and a contemporary recalled hearing him play more than thirty variations on one of his own themes.
- The 1765 version in Löhlein's Clavier-Schule adds two new variations and reorders some of the inner ones, growing the set from six variations to eight.
- The complete edition considers Löhlein himself as a possible author, but notes that this would not explain the many early copies credited to Bach.
- In a 1783 letter, Bach called Löhlein ungrateful and wrote that, of three critics, Löhlein had angered him most with his Clavier-Schule.
- If the piece is not by C. P. E. Bach, the edition suggests his half-brother Johann Christian Bach, who joined him in Berlin from 1750 to 1755, as the most plausible other Bach.
Why the first passage is level 7
That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because it runs fast figuration.
Both passages on this page come from the variations rather than the theme, where running sixteenth-note lines meet an active left hand; the theme itself is far simpler.
Questions about Arioso with Variations, H. 351
- How hard is Arioso with Variations, H. 351 to play?
- Its passages grade from level 7 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 33–36 at level 7.
- Is there an easy part of Arioso with Variations, H. 351 for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 33–36 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it runs fast figuration.
- What key and time signature is Arioso with Variations, H. 351 in?
- The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
- Who composed Arioso with Variations, H. 351?
- C. P. E. Bach (attributed), German classical (1714–1788). This theme and variations in A major is catalogued as H.
- Can I practice Arioso with Variations, H. 351 online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Arioso with Variations, H. 351 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- Did C. P. E. Bach really write the Arioso with Variations, H. 351?
- Nobody knows for certain. The complete edition of his works lists it as a work of uncertain authorship; early manuscripts credit Bach, but Löhlein and Johann Christian Bach have also been considered.
- How many variations are there?
- It depends on the source: an early version has six variations, and the 1765 printed version in Löhlein's Clavier-Schule has eight.
- Is this piece in the public domain?
- Yes. Whoever wrote it, the music is from the eighteenth century and is public domain; modern scholarly editions have their own copyright.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 7
- bars 33–36 both hands · bars 89–92 both hands
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.