A theme and variations is probably the most familiar example of diminution. Often in this genre, a composer uses a simple theme to support increasingly complex figurations.

One of the reasons for doing a Schenkerian analysis is to discover the simple progressions that lie behind apparently complicated music. A variation is an obvious example of composers working in this way - the simple theme underpins the figurations of the variation.

Each variation is different but the whole work is unified by the presence of the theme beneath the surface of the music. Bearing in mind the four different types of diminution already discussed can you work what familiar tune is being varied here (it is only the first two lines)?