Nikolaus von Krufft, born on 1 February 1779 in Vienna as the son of a state minister, studied philosophy between 1794 and 1797, and then law until 1800 at the University of Vienna. From 1801 he was employed at the Secret Court and State Chancellery. In 1815 he accompanied Metternich to Paris, and in 1817 to Italy and Styria. Nikolaus von Krufft received his first piano lessons from his mother and was a composition student of Albrechtsberger. He devoted himself intensively to his musical work and died at the early age of 39 on 16 April 1818 in Vienna. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of 1818 described him as distinguished "as a pianist by rare skill and precision, and as a composer by spirit and study". He is also said to have possessed an extraordinary musical memory. Among his works, his songs are especially notable, making him one of Franz Schubert's most important forerunners, as are his 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, written in the tradition of Bach.
Besides his well-known Sonata in E major for horn and piano (ROM 108), Krufft also composed these Variations for horn and piano. The work is based on a cavatina from Adalbert Gyrowetz's opera "Der Augenarzt" (1816). The Variations were dedicated to the hornist Friedrich Bode, first horn at the court chapel of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Bode also played first horn in the 1818 premiere of G. A. Schneider's Concerto for Four Horns.
