[�Theme And Accompaniments� would be a more formally academic alternative appellation ; an informal, nonacademic one would be "Milking A Tune".]

Here we have an original 10-bar tune, scribbled down ages ago but forgotten about, given 8 new back-to-back trips through a variety of accompaniments, for which its fickle harmonic allegiances, unhurried tempo and sparse notes equip it well.

In the score, each repetition of the tune begins with a Roman numeral (II � VIII). The tune�s 3 sections migrate freely between octaves, with accompaniment above or below: otherwise the tune remains relatively unscathed en route, apart from occasional accents, dynamics, enforced rests and 2 initial triplets becoming dotted figures. The tempo is strictly 40 b.p.m. throughout until only the penultimate bar: no rubato, fermata or �putting in the expression� ! [Trivia: The tune would be exactly 1 minute long if its final bar were 4/4 like the previous 9 instead of 2/4; which takes off 2 beats = 3 seconds, leaving the 57-second variety.]