Vocal Theme and Variations

During our last class meeting the comment was made that we don't really explore too much with vocal theme and variation. I had intended for the theme and variation I wrote to be played via computer or piano. However when it came time to perform the variation I thought perhaps we could try it using our voices. It was difficult for me to explain how we as a class were going to perform this theme and variations. Once finished we established that perhaps round singing could be a form of theme and variation, which I very much agree with.
I then began to think about jazz. Every time I sang with my undergraduate jazz group I tried my hand at scatting and embellishing on an already existent melody. This indeed was an example of theme and variation. Every time I scatted over "God Bless The Child" or "Autumn Leaves" I borrowed material from the original theme and added a few notes here and there. Vocal theme and variations make up jazz singing. In fact we use vocal theme and variations in many songs we perform.
Our discussion of theme and variation has prompted some questions in my head. Is theme and variation at the root of all music? Is all music a variation on some pre-existing theme? The discussion of borrowing themes and setting variations has occasionally turned into battles of plagiarism in music. If music is based simply upon theme and variation is it possible that battles of plagiarism may be confused with variations on a theme that are very similar? Is there really plagiarism in music or is it just variation?
I will address these questions in class then in my next blog!