Music Composition DUMmIES

Note the different key and time signature used in the B part shown in

Figure 13-4, compared to the A part in Figure 13-3.

The third part of the sonata, of course, is the return to the theme or themes

explored in the first A section. It is called the recapitulation.

Like a lot of musical forms, the sonata has its roots in language — in this case,

the sonnet. In a sonnet, the first quatrain (four-line verse) consists of two sets

of rhyming pairs (in music, this could be an A part), whereas the second verse

consists of two completely different sets of rhyming pairs (a B section). The

third verse goes back to the rhyming scheme of the A section, the fourth fol-

lows the rhyming scheme of the B section, and so on. Shakespeare, of course,

was/is the reigning king of the sonnet.

The rondo ...........................................................................................

In a rondo, the idea of linking completely different-sounding pieces of music

is taken even further than in the sonata. The formula for a rondo is ABACA

for five-part rondo, and ABACADA for seven-part rondo — the two main kinds

of rondo. Meaning, of course, that the A section, sometimes called the refrain,

is the only thing really tying the piece of music together, and the B, C, and D

parts (sometimes called episodes) can be in most any key or time signature

you want. Mozart was a fine example of a composer that utilized the rondo,

such as in the final movement of his Sonata in A Major, the Ronda alla Turca

section.

The rondo also has its roots in poetry. In 13th century France, the rondeauwas

an incredibly popular form of street poetry and was often set to music. In a

rondeau, each new stanza has a completely different rhyming scheme, rhyth-

mic structure, and even stanza length than the one that came before, with the

exception that the opening rhyme scheme (A) is returned to at the beginning

of each new stanza.

&

?

bbbbb

b

b

b

b

b

4

3

4

3

Ó œœ

∑

̇ ̇ œ

œn

∑

œ

œ Œ œœ

∑

œœ Œ œ

œn

∑

œ Œ

∑

Figure 13-4:
The
develop-
ment of
Beethoven’s
“Moonlight
” Sonata
begins the
B part.

Chapter 13: Musical Forms 149