Chapter 4 Musical Form and Musical Style

1
Chapter 4Musical Form and Musical Style

• Form in Music

2
Key Terms

• Form
• Memory
• Outer form
• Inner form

• Repetition
• Contrast
• Return
• Variation
• Genre

3
Form in Music

• Overall shape of a musical work
• Arrangement, relationship, or organization of
  various elements of music
• Rhythm
• Pitch and melody
• Dynamics
• Harmony
• Tone color
• Texture
• Tonality

4
Form in Music

• Musical works can divide into clear sections with
  clear-cut relationships or unfold gradually and
  organically
• Form is not purely intellectual
• Our experience of form shapes our emotional
  response to a work
• The emotional trajectory of a work is forged by
  careful use of repetition and contrast

5
Form in Music

• Musical works are formed through repetitions and
  contrasts of elements
• Repetitions may be strict or free
• Contrasts may be subtle or dramatic
• Repetitions and contrasts define relationships
  between phrases of a melody or sections of a work
• Memory is the key to hearing these relationships
  as they unfold in time

6
Form in Music

• Possible relationships between phrases, themes,
  or sections
• Repetition (a a)
• Parallelism
• Identical or nearly identical restatement of a
  phrase, theme, or section
• Feels reassuring, but lacks excitement

7
Form in Music

• Possible relationships
• Contrast (a b)
• A new phrase or section
• May have subtle connections to previous material,
  or may be entirely new
• Provides excitement of new phrase, theme, or
  section, but doesnt feel stable or complete

8
Form in Music

• Possible relationships
• Variation (a a)
• A restatement of previous material, but one or
  more elements are altered
• Simultaneous repetition and contrast
• Similar enough to sound like the same idea, but
  definitely not identical
• Variation can change or transform the mood or
  feeling of a phrase, theme, or section

9
Form in Music

• Possible relationships
• Contrast and return (a b a)
• Unlike repetition, return is restatement of
  original material after contrasting material
• You cant return home if you never leave!
• Commonly used, emotionally satisfying formula
  (unity and variety)
• Combines excitement of new material and sense of
  relief with return of familiar material
  (homecoming)

10
Listening for Form

• Try several exampleswhich of these do you hear?
• Repetition?
• Contrast?
• Variation?
• Contrast and return?

11
Form and Forms

• Form is organization of elements in a work
• A form refers to one of many standardized
  patterns used by composers
• Possible forms include
• Strophic form (A A A )
• Ternary form (A B A)
• Fugue
• Baroque dance form (aabb)
• Sonata form

12
Form and Forms

• An example A B A form
• Three large sections statement, contrast, return
• Each section might have its own form
• A a b a
• B c d c
• A a b a
• Such nesting arrangements are often used to
  create more complicated forms

13
Form and Forms

• Outer and inner form
• Standard patterns outline a works overall
  shapeits outer form (e.g., A B A)
• Outer forms are reassuring, provide a
  satisfying, easy-to-follow overall shape
• Outer forms do not describe the content of each
  section, its moment-to-moment inner workings, or
  the feel of contrasting materialits inner form

14
Form and Forms

• Inner Form
• Take any work in A B A form
• Is B in a different mode or key?
• Is Bs contrast due to rhythm, texture, tone
  color, or some other element?
• Does the return convey excitement, trickiness, or
  relief?
• Take any other work in A B A form
• The answers will be different!
• Same outer form, different inner form

15
Musical Genres

• Categories or types of musical compositions
• A genre can be defined by a its
• Performing forces (number and kind of instruments
  or voices used)
• Function or purpose
• Text
• Not to be confused with form

16
Musical Genres

• Examples of genres
• Concerto
• Mass
• Oratorio
• Symphony
• Sonata
• String quartet
• Song cycle
• Madrigal
• Opera

17
Genre vs. Form

• A genre is defined by its broadest features
  (performers, function, etc.)
• A form is defined by its internal sections and
  their interrelationships

18
Genre vs. Form

• In literature, poetry is a genre
• A work in verse
• Usually breaks down into stanzas and lines
• Often uses poetic meter and rhyme
• Traditionally intended for public reading
• Haiku, sonnets, and limericks are forms
• Each has a specific number of lines (3, 14, and
  5, respectively)
• Each uses a specific poetic meter (or specific
  number of syllables per line)
• The last two have an expected rhyme scheme

19
Genre vs. Form

• In music, the symphony is a genre
• a large work in several movements for orchestra
  (performing forces)
• written for entertainment at a public concert
  (function)
• Each movement of a symphony may use a different
  formHaydns 95th uses
• Sonata form
• Theme and variations
• Minuet form
• Rondo form

20
Listening for Genre

• Try several examplesanswer these questions
• What is the function of this music?
• Public or private entertainment? Worship?
  Patriotic? Commercial?
• What are the performing forces?
• Orchestra? String quartet? Chorus? Solo voices?
  Piano? Rock band? Jazz combo?
• What is the genre?