Musical Form in the Symphony Flashcards
Classical and Romantic period
What are the typical movements in a symphony during the Mature Classical period?
There are typically four movements, each with its own personality and character traits.
Describe Movement I of a symphony.
A fast-tempo first movement establishing the key and mood of the work as a whole, usually in sonata form and contains the ‘serious’ material of the work. Symphonies before 1800 are ‘front-weighted’ with this movement being the longest and most complex.
What characterizes Movement II of a symphony?
It is slower than the first movement, usually in a contrasting key, lyrical and reflective, with no standardised musical form.
What is the nature of Movement III in a symphony?
A dance movement usually in triple metre, often a Minuet and Trio or later a Scherzo, marked by a return to the tonic key and a faster tempo than Movement II, following a strict rounded binary form.
What defines Movement IV of a symphony?
A fast finale that confirms the tonic key, often more light-hearted, humorous, or witty, with impressive or triumphant flourishes towards the end.
What is Binary Form?
A prominent feature of Baroque music, it was also found in the Classical Period.
The first section moves from the tonic of the movement to a related key (usually V [if major], or Ill [if minor]).
The second half of the form then moves back to the tonic
What is Ternary Form?
A three-part musical form (ABA’) with an opening section in a closed key, a contrasting section in a different key, and a final return to the closed tonic key.
What is Rounded Binary?
The form of the Minuet and Trio, combining binary and ternary forms, divided into two identifiable parts with a repeated A section, followed by a B section and a final shortened A section (A’).
What are Themes and Variations?
Sets of variations on a theme, often based on rounded binary form, adding complexity through diminutions, decorative scoring, counterpoint, and sometimes a shift of mode.
What is Rondo Form?
Characterized by the alternation of a main theme and contrasting episodes (ABACA…), usually found in the last movement of a symphony, with the main theme set in rounded binary form.
What was a general trend in musical forms during the Romantic Period?
Musical forms increased in length, size, and scope.
How did the 4-movement tradition change in the Romantic Period?
There was both an increase and decrease in the 4-movement tradition.
What was a common practice regarding previous musical forms in the Romantic Period?
Previous forms were adapted and modified to create new forms.
What role did tonality play in symphonies during the Romantic Period?
Tonality played an important role in the ‘book ends’ of a symphony.
What are cyclical symphonies?
Cyclical symphonies share thematic material across multiple movements to bind the work as a whole.
What is an ‘idée fixe’ in the context of cyclical symphonies?
An ‘idée fixe’ is a returning theme representing a character or emotion in programme symphonies.
What are ‘bookends’ in a symphony?
Bookends refer to movements I and IV as the sturdy, stable movements that keep the symphony musically stable.
What was the order of movements in the Mature Classical period?
The order was fast, slower, minuet, fast.
How did the order of movements change in the Romantic period?
The middle movements would often rotate while the outer movements remained ‘bookends’.
What was a common practice regarding the number of movements in the Romantic period?
The practice of inserting extra movements into the basic structure became more common.
What was the most common way to add extra movements in the Romantic period?
The most common way was to add a further slow movement between the Minuet and the finale.
What replaced the 4 movement symphony in some cases during the Romantic period?
Symphonic tone poems, which were single movement works, replaced the 4 movement symphony.
What does elision refer to in music?
Elision refers to overlapping, where movements will either interrupt or seamlessly transition to the next without stopping.
What is modified sonata form?
It became common to modify sonata form to create a new form, often removing the development section.
