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Theme; the subject of a set of variations.
Printed as the heading of the theme in a set of variations (Tema, Tema con variazioni), and inside directions such as ben marcato il tema, where it names the melody to be brought out. As a heading it covers the theme up to Var. I.
As a heading it frames everything that follows, so keep the theme simple, clearly phrased and harmonically stable enough for the variations to be heard against it. Inside a direction, il tema tells the player which line carries the tune in a busy texture. German scores print Thema instead.
Liszt, La Campanella (from the Grandes études de Paganini), piano, m. 5: “ben marcato il tema” at p — the theme is to stand out clearly.
Tema is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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