J.S. Bach – French Suites – These collected dance suites each have a different dance form and as a collection show how various individual dance rhythms and styles are expressed. Listening to these suites introduces forms that repeat frequently, yet each contains small variations in execution, an excellent way to help listeners hear small changes to larger formal ideas. 

Ludwig van Beethoven and PDQ Bach – Symphony No. 5, movement 1, with Baseball – This narrated version of the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony walks listeners through the sonata form using correct terminology, but does so in the form of a sports announcer at a baseball game. Humorous and educational, this is a great way to think of sonata form.

W.A. Mozart – Ah vous dirai-ja, Mama – This set of theme and variations, based on the 18th-century French melody we now know as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” is another example of accessible form in European Art Music. As a theme and variation, based on a well-known melody, it is easy for listeners to follow Mozart’s various techniques for changing the melody progressively over the course of the variations.