Henry Cowell was commissioned for an orchestral composition by Thor Johnson and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
It was written during Cowell's final musical period in Woodstock, New York, having accepted too many commissions at the time because of his constant anxiety about not receiving an adequate income.
[2] Cowell said of the theme that, though it makes use of all twelve notes in the chromatic scale, it is not developed according to the typical row technique; that it is "diatonic without following any particular mode".
Cowell writes as a performance note in the original manuscript:The Variations are upon a theme, first announced in unison, which makes use of all 12 tones, but is not developed according to row technique.
Neither is it in convention [sic] variations form; rather ideas from the theme are freely used and contrasted in mood, tempo and instrumentation.