Originally thought to have been written in about 1776, more recent research on the manuscript of these delightful variations has led to a dating of 1781–2, during Mozart’s first year in Vienna, possibly written for some of his more advanced piano pupils. The earliest published edition (issued by the Viennese firm of Torricella in 1785) has a dedication to Josepha Barbara Auerhammer (1758–1820) about whom Mozart had mixed feelings, writing to his father that ‘the girl is a fright! But she plays charmingly.’ Clearly Mozart admired his pupil’s gifts as a player since they gave concerts together in Vienna. The anonymous tune and text of ‘Ah, vous dirai-je maman’ first appeared in song collections in the 1760s. In English-speaking countries, the melody eventually came to be associated with Jane Taylor’s nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’ though that was originally set to a different tune (the earliest appearance of words and music together was in 1838). 

Following a straightforward presentation of the theme, Mozart embarks on a series of variations, ingenious and playful in mood until Variation VIII when the key changes into the minor for a rather sterner reworking of the tune. A return to the major for Variation IX marks the start of the later variations in which Mozart becomes more creative with his treatment of the theme, particularly in Variation XI – a lyrical Adagio – and the final Variation XII, marked Allegro, in which the tune is transformed into triple time to bring the work to a brilliant close. 

Nigel Simeone © 2024