Following the premiere of Le nozze di Figaro on May 1, 1786, Mozart turned to composing a number of smaller scale works during the summer of that year. The present set of variations was composed early in September and entered in the composer's thematic catalog on the 12th of that month. Simply listed as "12 variazionen für das klavier allein," the origination of the Allegretto theme is unknown, scholars believing that it may have been composed by Mozart himself. This represents an unusual departure for Mozart, the majority of whose sets of variations follow the conventional course of basing such works on a well-known theme, often taken from one of the popular operas of the day (cf. K. 264, K. 352, K. 398, K. 455 and K. 460). Interestingly, Mozart followed the same procedure in the work that succeeds K. 500, the superb Andante with 5 Variations in D for piano duet, K. 501 composed in November. As is frequently the case, the theme is straightforward, the first half introducing a rising sequence dominated by trills. The twelve variations which follow are short and less demanding than those in many of the other sets, giving the impression that the work may have been intended for teaching purposes. At the conclusion the theme is repeated in its original form. The variations were issued by the Viennese publisher Hoffmeister, probably during the year of their composition.

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