Form Flashcards
Form
the constructive or organizing element in music.Form might be defined simply as what forms have in common, reflecting the fact that an organizing impulse is at the heart of any compositional enterprise, from the most modest to the most ambitious.”
Closure
a sense of musical stability or finality (can be done by dissonant w/consonant at end)
Phrase
a unit of musical materials articulated by a cadence or some other type of closure
Section
a group of phrases which are related in the listener’s mind by proximity or musical content.
Motive
a short fragment or melody or rythm
Melody
a succession of pitches having a coherence similar to that found in a sentence in language.
Tonality
the organization of music around a central, and the scale
Binary
a form in two sections, often contrasting in key
Rounded Binary
a binary form featuring a return of part of the A section at the end of the piece (ABa)
Ternary
a form featuring two contrasting sections. The first section is repeated in its entirety as the closing section of the piece (ABA or ABA’)
Rondo
a form featuring repetitions of an A section separated by a variety of contrasting materials. (ABACA….A)
Sonata
very elaborate ternary form which was extremely popular in the late 18th and throughout the 19th century and employed often in first movements of symphonies and solo instrumental works.
Strophic
a vocal form, involving text, in which each verse is set to the same music.
Through-composed
a vocal form in which the music is freely composed to accompany the text. (freeer than strophic)
Theme and Variations
A form in which certain elements of a short piece of music serve as the foundation for a series of musical elaborations and/or reworkings.
