Beethoven wrote and published many variation pieces throughout his life, most of which were published without opus numbers. These were created especially with amateur musicians in mind, who could amuse themselves by playing variations on, back then, well known melodies. Assumedly, Beethoven thought the variation pieces which he gave opus numbers to, were of a particularly high quality.
This also goes for the lesser known variation piece opus 34. It is not a piece expressing the same panache as the Eroica Variations, but it is full of character and humour. Beethoven varies both key, meter signature and metronome mark in each variation, and hereby transforms the theme to a hunting melody, a minuet, a dramatic funeral march and a simplistic folk-like melody. The overarching plan for the variations is very schematic, with the keys creating a falling circle of thirds, from the theme in F major to the following variations in D major, B flat major, G major, E flat major, and C minor. A small bridge prepares the return of the tonic in the 6th variation before the piece ends with an ornamented repeat of the main theme.

It is fascinating that Beethoven, in the midst of one of his biggest life crises, composes music filled with such vitality, energy and humour. Neither opus 34 nor 35 contains the despair, which Beethoven experienced as a result of his increasing deafness. They even seem to be a creative counter reaction to his misery. The following years became some of the most productive in Beethoven’s life and he wrote several master pieces, amongst others the famous piano sonata opus 57, which later came to be known under the name Appassionata. It is unknown whether Beethoven found his inspiration for Appassionata in his own life, but the piece contains both the despair and hope that he was experiencing.