Variations on both popular and original themes were a kind of “fashion accessory” during the days of Viennese classicism, and Beethoven also made his contribution to this genre; to be sure, financial reasons played a role here, as fashion articles sold well. Yet little by little, the principles and formal layout of the variation form assumed a central meaning for Beethoven.

The first volume of the Henle Urtext edition containing Beethoven’s collected piano variations opens with the first wor...