Anton Webern's late instrumental works have always been admired as examples of a systematic, innovative application of twelve-tone technique. From our perspective today, however, the reliance on older models of form and movement-structure, though of course never intended by Webern as a form of "restoration," seems equally important. How closely these aspects are interrelated can be seen from the example of the Variations for Piano, Op. 27, which were written in 1935/36.