DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

74 FORM FORM
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In this the bars bracketcii are the same, and the
phrase which connects them is very short ; and
the whole presents about as simple and unsophisticated
a specimen of Form as could well
be conceived. The simple basis of which this is
a type is the origin of the Rondo-form, which
has survived with great variety and modification
of treatment till the present day. Tlie first
advances upon the above example which offer
any points of interest seem to be in cases where
we find either a. contrast aimed at in the passage
which forms the link, or a number of repetitions
succeeding one another, wdth ditferences in fhe
passages connecting them. Tliese two constitute
the two great branches through which
this primitive idea diverged into thousands of
Arias, Lieder, Nocturnes, Romances, Scherzos,
and other lyrical pieces on the one hand, and
the movement which still retains its name of
Rondo on the other. As an early example of
the first we may take the song * Roland courez
aux amies' from LuUy's opera 'Roland,' which
is too long for insertion here, but wdll be found
in the 136th chapter of Hawkins's History of
Music. In this there are twelve bars of melody
followed by twelve
in C, concluding in that key ;
more bars, in which there is modulation first to
the relative minor A, and then to the dominant
key G major, in which key this portion concludes ;
after which the first twelve bars are resumed
precisely as at first, and so the whole concludes.
Here the employment of modulation in the connecting
passage is a strong element of contrast,
and indicates a considerable advance in musical
ideas on the obscure tonality of the preceding example.
On the other hand, almost contemporary
with Lully, there are, in the works of Coujjerin,
numerous specimens of the Rondo, consisting of
a number of repetitions, with differences in the
connecting passages. In these the passage with
whicli the movement commences is repeated over
and over again bodily and without disguise, and
separate short passages, of similar length but
varying character, are put in between, Couperin
was particularly fond of the Rondo-form, and
examples may be found in profusion in his
work.s. The one which is perhaps best known
and most available for reference is the ' Passacaille
en Rondeau,' published in the complete
edition of Brahms and Chrysander, vol. i. p.
152. A point syiecially observable in them is
the rigidity and absence of any attempt at
sophistication in the process. The sections are
like crude squares and circles fitted together into
a design, and no attempt, or very little at best,
is made to soften off the outlines by making
the sections pass into one another. The chief
subject is distinct and the episodes are distinct,
and the number of repetitions seems to depend
solely on the capacity of the comjioser to put
something in between. Still it is clear that the
virtue of contrasts both of style and of key is
appreciated, though the range of modulation is
extremely limited. It is noticeable, moreover,
as illustrating the point of \iew from which
Form at that time was regarded, when recognised
as such, that the divisions of the Rondo are
marked with extra emphasis by a Fcrmata or
pause. From this to such a Rondo as we find
in the Partita in C minor of Bach is a great
step. Here there are no strongly marked divi-
sions to stiffen the movement into formality,
but it flows on almost uninterruptedly from first
to last. The ei)isodes modulate more freely,
and there is not such rigid regularity in the
reappearance of the main subject. It appears
once outside of the principal key, and (which is
yet more important) is brought in at the end
in an extremely happy variation ; which is
prophetic of Beethoven's favourite practice of
putting identical ideas in dill'erent lights. The
next stage of development of this form—and
that probably rather a change than an improvement
on the above beautiful little specimen of
Bach—is the Rondo of Haydn and Mozart.
Their treatment of it is practically the same as
Coujierin's, but in many cases isstrongly modified
by the more important and elaborate ' Firstmovement-
form,' which by their time had grown
into clearness of sj'stera and definition. The
Rondo-form, pure and simple, has remained till
now much as it was in Couijerin's time, gaining
more in expansion than in change of outline.
Even the great Rondo of Beethoven's ' AVald-
stein ' Sonata (op. 53) consists of the repetition
of a subject of some length intersjiersed with
episodes ; with modifications in the length of the
episodes and the repetition of one of them, and
a great Coda founded on the principal subject to
conclude with. The further consideration of the
Rondo as affected by the ' first movement ' form
must be postponed till after the examination of
the latter.
By the side of the primitive Rondo above
quoted a form more complex in principle is found.
In this form the relations of harmonic roots come
largely into play, but its most striking and
singular feature is the manner of the repetition
by which it is characterised. And in this case
examples drawn I'rom various early sources which
agree in the peculiar manner of the repetition
will be of value, as above indicated. In this
form the movement is divided into two halves,
and these again into two sections. The first
half, or complete period, comprises asortof rough
balance between the amount which tends to the
Tonic and the amount which tends to the Domi-