Chapter Five Outline: “Form”

 

Form

Defines the way a piece of music begins, continues, develops, and ends

It is the way in which other musical elements are combined through the passage of time to create a complete work of music

Listening to form enables one to recognize and follow the main ideas of a piece of music

 

Building Blocks of Form

Every musical form is essentially a variant of three basic structural principles: repetition, contrast, and variation

 

Repetition

            Tool for reinforcing main ideas and underscoring important themes

            Instills balance and resolution, reminding listeners of what has come before or anticipating what lies ahead

            Example: the refrain, repeated at intervals in a song

 

Contrast

            Introduces the new

            Most evident when accompanied by changes in tempo, mood, instrumentation, or structure

 

Variation

            Integrates elements of repetition and of contrast by taking a familiar component and altering it somewhat

            Recognizable, but different

 

Examples of a formal structure

            AABA: Verse (A) and chorus (B) form, common in popular songs

                        Variation still occurs most commonly with the addition of an instrumental part known as the bridge between verses and choruses

 

Repetition-based Forms

 

Strophic form

            Vocal song structure in which the same melody is repeated for each verse: AAAA, etc.

            Example: the art song, or lied, Die Post, from Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise, in which the melody is sung twice in nearly identical forms

 

Focus on Franz Schubert

            Austrian composer best remembered for his astounding body of lieder

A rich and subtle musical language combined with sensitive and imaginative text-setting are why his art songs remain genre-defining nearly two hundred years after their composition

            Enigmatic man who is often thought of as the model Romantic artist

 

Other Song Forms

            Music of the troubadours (and trobairitzes) is the model for the Romantic (and otherwise) art song

            Listening to such recordings gives one a sense of the genre’s variety

 

Modified Strophic Form

            As the name suggests, like the strophic form except that the composer changes the music for some stanzas

            Can be used to emphasize textual changes and express the text more dramatically

            Example: Der Lindenbaum, also from Schubert’s Winterreise

 

Variation Form

            Also known as Theme and Variations, this offers a distinct pattern of variety within repetition

            The theme is stated at the beginning (and sometimes at the end), while the middle sections present a series of altered versions of the theme. A short conclusion (called a coda) may be present at the end.

            Variations are usually set off from one another by distinct changes in articulation, meter, key, or texture

            If the variations are too similar the piece seems overly repetitious, but if they are too different the piece lacks cohesion. Care must be taken to achieve the “just right” sense of variety within unity.

            Example: AABB form of the sixth movement of Mozart’s Gran Partita

                        Question-and-answer format of the melodies

                        Underlying pattern is retained throughout the entire movement while the surface texture and melodies change constantly

 

Focus on Following the Score

            Musicians of the 18th century and before, at least, had no problem with adding or subtracting notes (or even sections) from a score in a similar way to the freedom jazz musicians feel in performing. After the 19th century, classical musicians began following the score and the composer’s markings very closely.

 

Focus on the Clarinet

            A single-reed wind instrument that was a relatively recent invention in Mozart’s time

            Has two distinct registers with different timbres; analogous to the difference between male and female voices. Mozart often takes advantage of this distinction.

 

In History: Mozart’s Gran Partita

            Dates from the time after Mozart decided to move to Vienna and support himself as a freelance musician. Vienna afforded him many opportunities to perform, compose, and work with professional musicians.

            Music for wind ensemble was not as popular as other types of music in Vienna, and remains less common today than music for orchestras.

 

Contrast and Return-based Forms

            After two (or more) sections of contrasting material, the original material returns

            The contrast between sections may be large or slight; in addition, the return may be literal or somewhat altered

 

Ternary Form

            Two contrasting sections followed by the return of the original: ABA

            Example: Minuets, as in the third movement of Haydn’s String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 64, No. 3

                        At the end of the B section, composer wrote Menuetto da Capo, meaning to play the Minuet again from the top (lit, “from the head”). This was followed at the end of the A section by Fine, which means “conclusion.”

                        The second A section is shorter than the first as it is played without repeats.

 

            ABA with Coda: “Romance,” fifth movement from Gran Partita

                        B section is a striking contrast to A

                        Coda is not a contrast—extends the A material to complete the piece

 

Rondo Form

            Alternation of A section with contrasting section(s): ABACA etc.

                        Final movement of Gran Partita: ABACA’coda

 

Sonata Form/Sonata-Allegro Form

            Commonly used for the first movement of a multi-movement instrumental work such as a sonata, symphony, concerto, or other composition

            Not as straightforward as previous forms; composers treat it freely; usually descried as having three basic sections: Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation

            Exposition (1st theme, transition to new key, 2nd theme)

            Exposition is often repeated in order to fix the “characters” more firmly in listeners’ minds

            Development (explores main theme or themes)

                        Most dramatic and unstable portion of the sonata

            Recapitulation (1st theme, modified transition, 2nd theme)

                        Where the different threads come together for resolution

            Sonata forms are flexible: they can include introductions or codas or contain more than two main themes

 

 

Across the Arts: How Music Tells a Story

            Necessary elements: central character, conflict, complications, and resolution of the conflict

            Allows for an almost infinite number of permutations

 

All these descriptions are generalizations on patterns that are commonly used. Not every piece will fit the pattern, and there may be more than one important thing happening at once.

 

Ives, Sonata No. 4 for Violin and Piano

            Highly dissonant and disjunctive, but borrows ternary (ABA) form

            Based on a single theme (refrain from Jesus Loves Me), but this theme is not presented in its entirety until the movement’s end

            Listeners may not realize “what the piece is about” until the end

 

Multi-Movement Forms

 

Symphonic Model

            Four movements, beginning with a fast tempo movement, followed by a slower movement and a dance-like movement before ending with a fast and conclusive finale

 

Written clues

            Italian (or sometimes German or English) designations at the beginning of movements give both speed and interpretive hints to performers and the audience

            Opus: “work”; refers to a work or group of works that was published

 

Suite Model

            Originated in sets of stylized dances

            Offers more variety, both in number of movements and their speeds

            Movements are often more loosely connected to each other than in a symphony

 

Other Approaches to Form

 

Arch Form

            The musical intensity gradually grows toward a high point at or near the end

            Examples: Raga Bhankar, “Et in terra pax” from Bach’s Mass in B Minor

 

Forms for Music with Text: Formes fixes

            Predictable formal patterns from the medieval period such as the ballade, rondeau, and virelai

            Example: Foy porter, ABbaA form (multi-stanza strophic form), a finely coordinated combination of text and music

 

Focus on Troubadours

            Lyric poets and poet-musicians of 12th- and 13th-century southern France, comparable to modern-day singer-songwriters

            Wrote and sang of personal emotion, the trials and joys of love, and the turmoil of the isolated human soul

            Succeeded by the trouvères of northern France