Rondo - wikipedia Rondo This article is about the musical refrain form. For the late - 18th - century operatic form type, see Rondò. For other uses, see Rondo ( disambiguation ). The main theme of a famous rondo, the final movement of Beethoven 's Pathétique piano sonata Play ( help info ) Rondo and its French part - equivalent, rondeau, are words that have been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form but also to a character type that is distinct from the form. Contents 1 Form 1.1 Examples of rondo form 2 Character type 3 Etymology 4 Other usages 5 Sources 6 External links Form Typical tonal structure of classical seven - part rondo, late 18th and early 19th centuries B ' Major key V VI, IV or parallel minor Minor key III or V VI or IV In rondo form, a principal theme ( sometimes called the `` refrain '' ) alternates with one or more contrasting themes, generally called `` episodes '', but also occasionally referred to as `` digressions '' or `` couplets ''. Possible patterns in the Classical period include : ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA. These are sometimes designated `` first rondo '', `` second rondo '', and `` third rondo '', respectively. The first rondo is distinguished from the three - part song form principally by the fact that at least one of the themes is a song form in itself, but the difference in melodic and rhythmic content of the themes in the rondo form is usually greater than in the song form, and the accompanimental figuration in the parts of the rondo ( unlike the song form ) is usually contrasted. The number of themes can vary from piece to piece, and the recurring element is sometimes embellished and / or shortened in order to provide for variation. A Baroque predecessor to the rondo was the ritornello. Ritornello form was used in the fast movements of baroque concertos, and in many baroque vocal and choral works. The entire orchestra ( in Italian, tutti ) plays the main ritornello theme, while soloists play the intervening episodes. While Rondo form is similar to ritornello form, it is different in that ritornello brings back the subject or main theme in fragments and in different keys, but the rondo brings back its theme complete and in the same key. Cedric Thorpe Davie is one author, however, who considers the ritornello form the ancestor, not of the rondo form, but of the classical concerto form ( which also occurs, as a form, in many a classical - era aria. ) A common expansion of rondo form is to combine it with sonata form, to create the sonata rondo form. Here, the second theme acts in a similar way to the second theme group in sonata form by appearing first in a key other than the tonic and later being repeated in the tonic key. Unlike sonata form, thematic development does not need to occur except possibly in the coda. Examples of rondo form Johann Sebastian Bach : E major Violin Concerto, last movement Antonín Dvořák : Cello Concerto in B minor, third Movement Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, last movement Ludwig van Beethoven : Rondo for piano and orchestra, WoO, 6 Ludwig van Beethoven : Piano Sonata, Op. 13, last movement Ludwig van Beethoven : Piano Sonata No. 21, last movement. Character type Rondo as a character - type ( as distinct from the form ) refers to music that is fast and vivacious -- normally Allegro. Many classical rondos feature music of a popular or folk character. Music that has been designated as `` rondo '' normally subscribes to both the form and character. On the other hand, there are many examples of slower, reflective works that are rondo in form but not in character ; they include Mozart 's Rondo in A minor, K. 511 ( marked Andante ). Etymology The term and perhaps the formal principle may have derived from the medieval poetic form rondeau, which contains repetitions of a couplet separated by longer sections of poetry. ( Arnold Schoenberg disputed that claim of origin in an essay in Style and Idea by noting that `` if musical rondo form were really supposed to be modelled on the poetic form, it could only be so very superficially ''. ) Other usages The term ( or its French equivalent ) has other uses, in particular the rondeau, either the vocal Rondeau of the Medieval and early Renaissance period, or the French Baroque Rondeau usually associated with brief movements ( for keyboard or larger ensemble ) of the Baroque era and earlier, e.g. Jean - Philippe Rameau 's `` Rondeau des Indes Galantes '' or Les Barricades Mystérieuses which is also not really a rondo, but a form of its own. A well - known operatic vocal genre of the late 18th century, referred to at that time by the same name but distinguished today in English and German writing by the differently accented term `` rondò '' is cast in two parts, slow - fast. Sources ^ Jump up to : White, John D. ( 1976 ). The Analysis of Music, p. 54 - 56. ISBN 0 - 13 - 033233 - X. Jump up ^ Eugene K. Wolf, `` Rondo '', Harvard Dictionary of Music, fourth edition, edited by Don Michael Randel. Harvard University Press Reference Library ( Cambridge : Belknap Press for Harvard University Press, 2003 ). ISBN 978 - 0 - 674 - 01163 - 2. Jump up ^ Percy Goetschius, Lessons in Musical Form : A Manual of Analysis of All the Structural Factors ( Boston : Oliver Ditson Company, 1904 ) : 117 ; Leon Stein, Anthology of Musical Forms : Structure and Style, expanded edition ( New York : Summy - Birchard, Inc... 1979 ) : 87. ISBN 0 - 87487 - 164 - 6. Jump up ^ Thorpe Davie, Musical Structure and Design. Jump up ^ in part because repetition serves different functions in poetry and in music. See For a Treatise on Composition, pp. 264 - 67, ISBN 0 520 05286 2. Jump up ^ Don Neville, `` Rondò '', The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 4 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie ( London : Macmillan Press, 1992 ). External links Rondo and Ritornello Forms in Tonal Music Rondo form in traditional marches from Limoux ' carnival http://www.karmina.cz/mp3/cd7/09.mp3 Texts on Wikisource : `` Rondo ''. New International Encyclopedia. 1905. `` Rondeau ''. Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. Musical form and development Arch form Argument Ausmultiplikation Bar form Binary form Call and response Cell Coda Conclusion Cycle Cyclic form Developing variation Drop Exposition Finale Formula composition Hook Introduction Lick Motif Movement Overture Period Recapitulation Repetition Reprise Rondo Rondò Section Sonata form Sonata rondo form Song structure ( popular music ) Strophic form Ternary form Theme Thirty - two - bar form Through - composed Transition Variation Verse -- chorus form GND : 4178454 - 6 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rondo&oldid=816258198 '' Categories : Musical form Musical symmetry Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2014 Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016 Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Encyclopedia Americana with a Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Български Boarisch Bosanski Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Limburgs Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська Tiếng Việt Walon 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 20 December 2017, at 06 : 53. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: a b a c a b a is an example of which form from the classic period
Answer: rondo