monothematic

In musical analysis, describing a composition based on a single theme. In the 18th century Haydn experimented with the technique: several finales of his symphonies are composed monothematically. Composers of the 19th century were also interested in the idea, sometimes involving it as a means of creating coherent cyclic form. Schubert's Fantasia (‘Wanderer’) (1822) may be argued to approach monothematicism, as may Liszt's Sonata in B minor for piano 1854, which presents themes derived from possibly a single motif. Some compositions using the twelve-tone system have another type of monothematic construction, in which only one twelve-note row is manipulated in the work.