This is Beethoven's final set of piano variations, representing a culmination of his variation techniques employed throughout his career.

The impetus for its composition stemmed from a commission by Anton Diabelli in 1819. Diabelli requested contemporary Viennese composers to each contribute a single variation on a theme he had composed. This group included Czerny, Schubert, and the young Liszt. Although Beethoven initially declined the invitation, he ultimately composed 33 variations on his own, publishing them even before the collective set of variations commissioned by Diabelli.

The work features variations crafted with diverse characters, achieved through changes in tempo indications, meter, and tonality. However, despite the extensive array of variations that thoroughly exploit the thematic motivic material, the overall unity is preserved due to the periodic insertion of variations that readily recall the original theme.