Download Introduction to Music: Musical Forms

Introduction to Music:
Musical Forms & Styles
Instructor: Anthony Johnson
Course: Music 100
Musical Form
 Theme and Variation- Theme and variations form is the simplest. At the
beginning of a movement, the theme is clearly stated. Each section thereafter in the
movement is a variation on the theme.
 Variations may be as simple as a change in key or accompaniment, or a
complicated restatement of the theme which may not be recognizable as
the original theme.
 There may be any number of variations on the theme. The end of the
movement will have a coda, an extended conclusion to the
movement.
 Once again the contrasting sections have greater autonomy in
harmony and sometimes in melody.
Musical Form
 Theme and Variation cont.
 Overall way of thinking about the Theme and variation" it is a popular
musical form in which a composer states a melody and then repeats it
several times with changes to create more interest and variety.
 In finality it will end with a coda.
 Examples: Charles Ives' "Variations on America" or
 Mozart’s Twelve Variations on Vous dirai-je, Maman" K. 265/300e
Musical Form
 Diagraming the Theme and Variation
 If you diagram the theme and variation in the same manner as we have
discussed it would look like this:
 A A’ A” A”’
 Remember that the A section is the initial announcement of the
theme and A‘ prime A” double prime indicator shows that the theme is
still present, but is a variation of the previous section.
Musical Form
 Techniques used in Composition
 Melodic Variation
 Rhythmic Variation
 Tone Variation
 Harmonic Variation
 Ornamentation
 Style Variation
 Instrumentation
Musical Form

Further Reading
 Musical form in which a statement of a theme or melody or harmonic pattern is followed by a
series of altered versions of the theme . The practice , originally involving use of a repeated
bass line (basso ostinato , or ground bass) , began in early-16th-cent . dance music in Italy and
Spain . English keyboard composers were soon developing melodic variations extensively , as
were J . P . Sweelinck and his followers . Ground-bass forms include the chaconne and
passacaglia , both of which usually employ a brief bass line repeated many times . In the 17th
cent . , organ and harpsichord variations became a standard form in Germany . Keyboard
variations in the 19th cent . often employed popular tunes or opera melodies; variation form
was also commonly used in symphonies , quartets , and sonatas . It declined in importance
after the Classical era , but has never ceased to be employed by important composers .
 Chaconne
 A repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line
(ground Bass) which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and
melodic invention.
 Passacaglia
 Italian, from Spanish passacalle, or pasacalle: (“street song”), musical form of continuous variation in
3/4 time; and a courtly dance. The dance, as it first appeared in 17th-century Spain, was of unsavoury
reputation and possibly quite fiery. In the French theatre of the 17th and 18th centuries it was a dance
of imposing majesty. Little is known of the actual dance movements and steps. Musically the
passacaglia is nearly indistinguishable from the contemporary chaconne; contemporary writers called
the passacaglia a graver dance, however, and noted that it was identified more frequently with male
dancers.
Questions &
Disscussion
1-The composer states a melody and then repeats it several times
with changes to create more interest and variety this is called:
Theme & Variation
2-Diagram what in letter form a theme and variation.
A A’ A” A’’’
3-Listen and name the pieces of music playing and the composers.
Charles Ives' "Variations on America" or
Mozart’s Twelve Variations on Vous dirai-je
4-What are some techniques used to create the variations on musical themes?
Melodic, Rhythmic, Tonal, Harmonic, Ornamentation, Style, Instrumentation.
5-A musical form of continuous variation in 3/4 time; and a courtly dance.
Passacaglia