I was learning Mozart`s Bb Sonata (K498a) and going along great until I got to the Variations in the middle. A few measures after the Andante there are several Variations and then a couple of Menuettos and they all have wall-to-wall repeat signs.

Am I supposed to choose one of each and play them over and over until the next Ice Age?

Several fruitless hours of googling on musical notation has left me answerless.

Anybody know anybody who knows?

I don`t know this particular piece but the Sonata in A similarly has variations and repeats for nearly every section and effectively doubles the duration. My copy was originally for exam purposes and the intro blurb explains that playing every repeat can be too time consuming (if not exhausting) if religiously observed and may not always be necessary.

It suggests though very careful selection of those repeats to be omitted to avoid the whole thing sounding lopsided. So, as is often the case it`s all down to (your) personal interpretation. Personally, if I could get through the whole lot successfully I would be more than satisfied - the number of repeats would be a minor problem.

Exactly. I`m concerned that I haven`t understood the sonata form yet. If I`m supposed to play all the Variations in the score twice, then that`s what I`ll do; but the fact that they`re so short made me wonder if I was supposed to choose one and play it a few times, then go on to the Menuetto and Trio and Rondo like normal. There are lots of repeat signs in those pages. One could be repeating for a very long time. It kind of looked like a hamster wheel.

Jeez, I should have googled on "sonata form." That would have been better.

Then again, maybe not. From http://www.musictheoryresources.com/members/FA_sonata.htm:

"7. Do not confuse sonata form with the title of many compositions "Sonata." While many piano and violin sonatas have a first movement in sonata form, not all of them do. "