Music Notation and Terminology Part 14

_Minuet_--slow dance in triple measure.

_Mazurka_--Polish dance in triple measure.

_Polonaise_--Polish dance in triple measure.

_Rigaudon_--lively dance in duple or triple measure.

_Sarabande_--triple measure.

_Tarantella_--swift Italian dance in s.e.xtuple measure.

The _allemande_ is especially interesting to students of music form because of its relation to the sonata, it being the prototype of the sonata-allegro (_i.e._, the first movement of the sonata). The _sarabande_ and _courante_ are likewise interesting as the prototypes of the second movement, and the _bouree_, _minuet_, etc., for their connection with the third movement.

152. The _scherzo_ (lit. musical joke) is a fanciful instrumental composition. It was used by Beethoven as the third movement of the sonata instead of the more limited minuet, but is also often found as an independent piece.

153. A _sonata_ is an instrumental composition of three or more movements (usually four), the first and last of which are almost always in rapid tempo. Each of these movements is a piece of music with a unity of its own, but they are all merged together in a larger whole with a broad underlying unity of larger scope. The composition receives its name from the fact that its first movement is cast in _sonata-form_.

(See Sec. 157 for description of sonata-form.)

When the _sonata_ has four movements, these are usually arranged as follows:

1. A quick movement (_allegro_, _presto_, etc.), often preceded by a slower introduction.

2. A slow movement (_largo_, _andante_, _adagio_, etc.).

3. A minuet or scherzo, often with a trio added, in which case the part preceding the trio is repeated after the trio is played.

4. A quick movement--the finale, sometimes a rondo, sometimes another sonata-form, sometimes a theme with variations.

These movements are all in closely related keys, but in a variety of contrasting rhythms.

154. A _trio_ is a sonata for three instruments (such as piano, violin, and cello), while a _quartet_ is a sonata for four instruments, the most common quartet combination being as follows: First and second violins, viola, and violoncello.

The term _chamber music_ is often applied to instrumental music for trio, quartet, quintet, and other similar combinations which are suitable for a small room rather than for a large concert hall.

The words _trio_ and _quartet_ are also applied to vocal works for three and four voices respectively, these having no relation whatsoever to the sonata as described above. The word _trio_ is also applied to the middle section of minuets, scherzas, marches, etc., the term originating in the old usage of writing this part for three instruments only.

155. A _concerto_ is a sonata for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment, the form being usually somewhat modified so as to adapt it to a composition in which there must necessarily be opportunity for a good deal of technical display. There are usually but three movements in the _concerto_.

The great majority of _concertos_ are for piano and orchestra, but examples of concertos for violin, cello, flute, oboe, and other solo instruments (all with orchestral accompaniment) have also been written. A few modern composers have applied the term _concerto_ to certain large organ works (with no orchestral accompaniment, the composition being written for just the one instrument), but this use of the word is so contrary to the accepted definition that it is hardly justifiable.

When a concerto is played on two pianos (without orchestra), this does not mean that there is no orchestral part, but that there is no orchestra to play it, and so the parts that should be played by the orchestral instruments have simply been arranged for a second piano (sometimes organ).

156. A _symphony_ is a sonata for full orchestra. In general its construction is the same as that of the sonata, but it is usually of much larger proportions and has in it much greater variety of both tonal and rhythmic material. The symphony is generally conceded to be the highest type of instrumental music ever evolved.

The _symphony_ was accepted as a standard form in the time of Haydn (1732-1809) and was developed enormously by Haydn himself, Mozart (1756-1791), and Beethoven (1770-1827), reaching perhaps its highest point in the famous "Nine Symphonies" of the last-named composer. Later symphony writers whose works are at present being performed include Schumann, Tschaikowsky, and Dvo[vr]ak.

The word _symphony_ was formerly used synonymously with _ritornelle_, both words being applied to instrumental interludes between parts of vocal works, but this usage has now entirely disappeared.

157. _Sonata-form_ (sometimes called _sonata-allegro_) is a plan for the construction of instrumental music (sonatas, quartets, symphonies, etc.), in which three rather definite divisions always occur, the third division being a more or less literal repet.i.tion of the first.

These _three parts of sonata-form_ with their usual subdivisions are:

I. EXPOSITION

(1) Princ.i.p.al theme (or first subject).

(2) Link-episode (or modulation group).

(3) Secondary theme (or song group), always in a nearly related key.

(4) Closing group.

(5) Coda.

II. DEVELOPMENT SECTION

Treating the themes introduced in the exposition in an almost infinite variety of fashions, according to the principles of thematic development. (See Sec. 148).

III. RECAPITULATION (OR REPRISE)

Consisting essentially of the same subdivisions found in the _exposition_, but differing from this first section in one essential point, viz., that instead of stating the secondary theme in a _related_ key, the entire recapitulation is in the _princ.i.p.al_ key. This third section is always followed by a coda (which may either be very short or quite extended), bringing the whole movement to a more definite close.

The second part of _sonata-form_ (the development section) is sometimes the longest and most intricate of the three divisions, and it is at this point that the composer has an opportunity of displaying to the full his originality and inventive skill. It is princ.i.p.ally because of this development section that the sonata is so far superior as a _form_ to its predecessors. For an a.n.a.lyzed example of _sonata-form_, see Appendix E. The student is advised to take other sonatas and go through the first movements with a view to finding at least the three main divisions mentioned above. In some cases the form will of course be so irregular that all the parts indicated cannot be discovered, but the general outlines of the scheme will always be present.

158. A _sonatina_, as its name implies, is a little sonata. It differs from the sonata proper princ.i.p.ally in having little or no development, the second section being of slight importance as compared with the corresponding section of a sonata.

A _grand sonata_ is like an ordinary sonata in form, but is of unusually large dimensions.

159. _Program music_ is instrumental music which is supposed to convey to the listener an image or a succession of images that will arouse in him certain emotions which have been previously aroused in the composer's mind by some scene, event, or idea. The clue to the general idea is usually given at the beginning of the music in the form of a poem or a short description of the thing in the mind of the composer, but there are many examples in which there is no clue whatsoever except the t.i.tle of the composition.

_Program music_ represents a mean between _pure music_ (cf.

the piano sonata or the string quartet) on the one hand, and _descriptive music_ (in which actual imitations of bird-calls, whistles, the blowing of the wind, the galloping of horses, the rolling of thunder, etc., occur), on the other. Most program music is written for the orchestra, examples being Liszt's "The Preludes," Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel," etc.

160. A _symphonic poem_ (or _tone poem_) is an orchestral composition of large dimensions (resembling the symphony in size), usually embodying the program idea. It has no prescribed form and seems indeed to be often characterized by an almost total lack of design, but there are also examples of symphonic poems in which the same theme runs throughout the entire composition, being adapted at the various points at which it occurs to the particular moods expressed by the _program_ at those points.

The _symphonic poem_ was invented by Liszt (1811-1886) and has since been used extensively by Strauss, Saint-Saens and others. It came into existence as a part of the general movement which has caused the fugue and the sonata successively to go out of fashion, viz., the tendency to invent forms which would not hamper the composer in any way, but would leave him absolutely free to express his ideas in his own individual way.

CHAPTER XVI

TERMS RELATING TO VOCAL MUSIC

161. An _anthem_ is a sacred choral composition, usually based on Biblical or liturgical[34] words. It may or may not have an instrumental accompaniment, and is usually written in four parts, but may have five, six, eight, or more.

[Footnote 34: A _liturgy_ is a prescribed form or method of conducting a religious service, and the parts sung in such a service (as _e.g._, the holy communion, baptism, etc.), are referred to as the _musical_ liturgy.]