[Footnote 66: As an illustration of this tendency see the Scherzo
of Beethoven’s Second Sonata, the second part of which has a
new theme of its own, although the movement as a whole is
clearly in Two-part form.]
[Footnote 67: SeeThe Sonata Formby W.H. Hadow, Chapter
III.]
The essentials of this structure, so frequent in all pianoforte liter-
ature, are the existence ofthreedistinctparts—hence the name:
a clause of assertion in the home-key; a second clause, affording
a genuinecontrastto the first part in regard to key, melodic
outline and general treatment, and a third clause of reassertion,
which shall repeat—either literally or in varied form—the ma-
terial of part one.[68] In the Three-part form, as employed in
the classic Minuet and Scherzo, each of the three partstaken
by itself is in complete Two-part form; and as the third part
was generally a literal repetition of part one, it was not written
out, but at the end of the middle part (called the Trio, because
it was originally written in three-voiced harmony) we find the
direction “Minuet or Scherzo da capo,” meaning a return to the
first part. A coda or tail-piece is often added to round out the
form. As the student will become thoroughly familiar with the
Three-part form, in connection with the classic Symphonies soon
to be studied (each Minuet, Scherzo or Trio being an example),
our illustrations show the use of this form in independent pieces
and are chiefly taken from modern literature; the object being
so to interest the student in the beauty of these compositions
as to convince him that in all good music content and design go
hand is hand. For examples[69] see Supplement Nos. 25, 26, 27.
[Footnote 68: The three-part form is derived partly from the
Italian “da Capo Aria” and partly from the fundamental instinct
for restatement which we have seen in the Folk-song.]
[Footnote 69: Additional illustrations, which will repay study
are the following: the Allegretto of Beethoven’s Sixth Sonata;
the Schubert Impromptu, op. 90, No. 4; Brahms’s Intermezzo,
op. 117, No. 1 and the Ballade in G minor, op. 118, No. 3,
and for orchestra—in extended treatment—Debussy’sPrélude à
l’après-midi d’un Faune.]