Chapter 11

MULTIMOVEMENT FORMS

Multimovement Forms
Cumulative process continues, and separate

entities are united in more expansive musical

projects
The individual parts of these combined forms
are movements
Random associations of movements are
conceivable, but the orderly sequences
prescribed by convention are the rule

COMPLETE SONATA FORM

The emergence of sonata form proper together

with the plan for the complete sonata marked

an epoch in the history of music
These inter-related schemes have been the
supreme form of musical expression from that
day to this
Untold numbers of masterpieces have been
spawned in the matrix of the complete sonata
form

COMPLETE SONATA FORM

The durability of this mode of musical organization

through the radically changing styles of the last 200

years attests to its adaptability and vitality
Trio (form, and not the medium) is a sonata for
three instruments;
Quartet is a sonata for four instruments
Symphony is a sonata for orchestra
Concerto is a sonata for a solo instrument with
orchestra
These works are variously titled according to the
performing medium, but essentially the same

 A complete sonata, regardless of medium,

consists basically of three movements with a

fast-slow-fast tempo scheme. A fourth
movement is often inserted between the slow
and fast movements. The first movement is,
with rare exceptions, a sonata form, and
certain forms are associated by tradition with
the other movements (shown on the next slide)

Movement
Tempo
First
Fast
Second

Form
Sonata

Slow

Compound ternary,

sonata, variation
or rondo

Third (optional) Moderate/fast

Compound Ternary

Last

Rondo or sonata

Faster

Some notable movement plans of some famous

composers:
Haydn favored a four-movement plan with a

minuet as the third movement.

Mozart ordinarily included a minuet in
symphonies and quartets but not in sonatas
Beethoven was partial to scherzos, which he
included as the third of four movements, but
reverted on occasion to the older minuet
Brahms was committed to the four-movement
plan, but his third movements usually are without
dance or scherzo connotations.

 There are many exceptions to these basic plans

A sonata, quartet, symphony, and concerto will

serve to illustrate various types of complete

sonata form as written for the different
mediums by composers of widely separated
periods.
By 1789 when Mozart composed Piano Sonata
no. 17, the concept of complete sonata form as
described was well established, but it had not
been for long.

Piano Sonata no. 17 (1789)

1. Allegro sonata form
2. Adagio compound ternary

form
3. Allegretto rondo form

Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart

 In this sonata, the pattern of tempos and forms

is typical for three-movement complete

sonatas, but the internal structure of the first
and third movements is somewhat irregular.
The first two themes of the first movement
begin with the same motive, and the order of
the second and third themes is reversed in the
recapitulation
The third movement structure is like a sevenpart rondo with the second return of the rondo
theme suppressed, a modification of rondo
form used by Mozart in other works

 The thematic design in A B A C B A

The same motive is prominent in each the

three themes, producing a highly integrated

movement.

Quartet, op. 76 no. 2 (1798)

1. Allegro
2. Andante o piu tosto

Joseph Haydn
(1702-1809)

allegretto compound
ternary form
3. Menuetto: allegro ma non
troppo compound ternary
form
4. Finale: Vivace assai sonata
form

 Slightly older composer, at a slightly later date

but within the same period and style

Known as Quinten because the interval of a
5th is prominent in the themes of the first
movement
Follows closely the traditional plan of
complete sonata forms with four movement
In the second movement, the return of the first
part after the contrasting middle section is
elaborately embellished in the manner of a
variation rather than a literal return
The menuetto is a canon

Classical Symphony (1917)

1. Allegro con brio sonata

form
2. Larghetto five-part rondo
form
3. Gavotte: Non troppo
4. Finale: Molto vivace
sonata form
Serge Prokofiev
(1891-1953)

 An example of an early 20th century work that

pays homage to classical (1750-1825) style

Though adhering to classic form, this work is
not without its 20th century flavor.
The gavotte is substituted for the more usual
minuet or scherzo, but otherwise the structural
concept is very close to that of Mozart and
Haydn

Piano Concerto no. 3 (1945)

1. Allegretto sonata form
2. Adagio religioso

compound ternary form

3. Allegro vivace five-part
rondo form

Bla Bartk
(1881-1945)

The Bartk concerto example is

thoroughly modern in style an spirit,
but its plan of organization has been
in use for 200 years.

CYCLIC FORM
Is a principle that is used in conjunction with

other forms, in which the same thematic

material is used in more than one movement.
Using of common material in the various
movements
Motivated by the need for stronger bonds
between movements; for integrating devices
beyond a plan of tempos, forms, and keys.

Symphony no. 9 (1893)

1. Adagio, allegro molto

Antonin Dvork
(1841-1904)

sonata form
2. Largo compound ternary
form
3. Scherzo: Molto vivace
seven-part rondo form
4. Allegro con fuoco sonata
form

 Dvork employs the cyclic principle effectively in

the complete sonata form of New World Symphony

Formerly known as Symphony no. 5, but listed as
no. 9 in his complete works
Common material shared by the movements is in
addition to the normal complement of distinctive
themes
A Motto Theme which occurs in each of the four
movement, is first heard in the opening adagio
played by the low strings. The melodic line
ascends by leaps in notes of unequal duration to a
high point, then abruptly descends to or near the
starting pitch.

 First movement faster and somewhat

modified verison of the motto theme

becomes the principal theme of the first
movement; figures prominently in the
movement
Second movement motto theme is
sounded by the trumpets and trombones in
an episode which functions as a transition
leading to the return of the opening
material of the compound ternary form and
a partial restatement of the famous Going
Home melody by the English horn

 Third movement the form borrowes

features from rondo and compound ternary

forms
- has an A B A C A B A design like a sevenpart rondo, but the A B A at the end in
written as da capo like a scherzo-trioscherzo
- the motto theme makes fleeting entrances
in two of the transitions and appears again
in the coda principally in the french horns

 Fourth movement thematic elements

from all three preceding movements are

recalled, both in the development section
and in the coda
- the themes of all four movements are
combined in a sort of recapitulation of the
entire symphony
- the similarities of rhythm and contour can
be traced between several of the thematic
ideas in the four movements

BAROQUE SUITE
The suite (as it crystallized during the baroque

period (1600-1750)) was an important

instrumental form consisting of a series of
movements all in the same key.
Most movements bear the name of a dance
from which they derive a characteristic rhythm
and style.

THE FOUR DANCES OF THE BAROQUE SUITE

ALLEMANDE
COURANTE
SARABANDE
GIGUE

THE FOUR DANCES OF THE BAROQUE SUITE

ALLEMANDE

a dance of German origin with four-beat

measures in a moderate tempo, running figures
and short upbeats. typical style serious, but not
ponderous (not boring)

THE FOUR DANCES OF THE BAROQUE SUITE

COURANTE

A quick dance frequently paired with an

allemande even before both were incorporated
in suites; basic three-beat rhythmic pattern
sometimes obscured by shifting accents;
differing French and Italian versions produce a
variety of styles.

THE FOUR DANCES OF THE BAROQUE SUITE

SARABANDE

A dignified dance in a slow triple meter in

which the second beat may be stressed; spread
from Spain across Europe but may have
originated in the Orient or the New World
(Central America)

THE FOUR DANCES OF THE BAROQUE SUITE

GIGUE

A lively dance which originated in the British

Isles; six (or a multiple of three) beats in
measures often containing long-short rhythmic
patterns

THE FOUR DANCES OF THE BAROQUE SUITE

These four dances are standard in baroque

suites . Between the sarabande and the gigue

one or more optional dances is usually inserted
A prelude or overture may precede the dance,
and a non-dance movement is occasionally in
the optional group.
The form of all the dances typically is binary

French Suite no. 6 in E (1723)

1. Allemande
2. Courante
3. Sarabande
4. Gavotte
5. Polonaise
6. Bourre
Johann Sebastian
Bach
(1685-1750)

7. Menuet
8. Gigue

optional group

DRAMATIC SUITE
A suite which consists of excerpts from a

dramatic work such as a ballet, an opera, or

the incidental music for a play.
Tchaikovskys Nutcraker is a ballet, and the
suite derived from the ballet music is a
dramatic suite

Nutcracker Suite (1892)

Overture Miniature
Characteristic Dances

P.I Tchaikovsky
(1840-1893)

a. March
b. Dance: Sugarplum fairy
c. Russian Dance (trepak)
d. Arabian Dance
e. Chinese Dance
f. Dance of the toy flutes
Waltz of the Flowers

Hary Janos Suite (1926)

1. Prelude: The Fairy Tale
2.
3.
4.

Zoltn Kodly
(1882-1967)

5.
6.

Begins
Viennese Musical Clock
Song
The Battle and Defeat of
Napoleon
Intermezzo (Czardas)
Entrance of the Emperor and
His court

 Kodlys Hary Janos Suite is an example of a

dramatic suite excerpt from an opera.

Dramatic suites do not have any fixed plan.
They are arranged customarily by the composer
with due consideration for the requirements of
balance and variety in style and tempo
Composers are impelled to make excerpts for
concert performance and recording, because
problems of presenting the original versions of
operas and ballets relegate them, whatever their
merits, to the list of works infrequently
performed. Hary Janos is a case of point.

INDEPENDENT SUITE
A work initially conceived as a suite
Like complete sonatas, independent suites are

multimovement works , but they are inclined

to differ from the sonata type in several
respects
Generally less profound, depart from the
prescribed forms and movements in both style
and number and sometimes have literary or
pictorial connotations

Scaramouche Suite (1937)

1. Vif
2. Modr
3. Brazileira: Tempo a Samba

Darius Milhaud
(1892-1974)

Suite exists in two versions one for two

pianos, and other for saxophone and
orchestra
Scaramouche was a Robin Hood type
character in French comedies

Other terms that have been applied to suitelike compositions:

Divertimento usually consists of several short

movements and are written for instrumental

combinations smaller than full orchestra
Partita originally was a set of variations, but
in the 17th and 18th centuries the term came to be
used interchangeably with suite
Serenade
are names which suggest
performance out-of-doors

Cessation

 Most multimovement instrumental

compositions which are not complete sonatas

can be called suites according to current
usage.

Multimovement forms
Complete sonata form
Cyclic form
Baroque suite
Dramatic suite
Independent suite

Additional Examples: see list on page 162