Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman"

Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman", K. 265/300e, is a piano composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed when he was around 25 years old (1781 or 1782).

This piece consists of twelve variations on the French folk song "Ah!

The French melody first appeared in 1761, and has been used for many children's songs, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", and the "Alphabet Song".

[1] This work was composed for solo piano and consists of the theme (transcribed below) and 12 variations.

[2] For a time, it was thought that these variations were composed in 1778, while Mozart stayed in Paris from April to September in that year, the assumption being that the melody of a French song could only have been picked up by Mozart while residing in France.