Rondo - what is it? What is a rondo in music?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Beethoven's "Rage over a Lost Penny", W. A. Mozart's "Turkish Rondo", Saint-Saens' "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" the same musical form. Many famous composers used it in their work. But what is a rondo, how can it be distinguished from other forms of musical art? Let's start with the definition of this concept and understand its subtleties.

Poetic Art

To avoid confusion, it should be remembered that this term simultaneously refers to two areas - literature and music. And this is not at all surprising. If we talk about poetry, then rondo is one of the poetic forms.

It has a special composition, which consists of 15 lines, while the ninth and fifteenth lines are the initial words of the first. This form originated in France in the 14th century and was actively used in Russian poetry of the 18th and early 20th centuries.

Rondo form in music

Now you can go to the description of the rondo directly in the music. It first appeared in FranceMiddle Ages. The name of the shape comes from the word rondeau - "circle". So called round dance songs. During their performance, soloists-singers performed their fragments of the work, and the choir repeated the chorus, in which both the text and the melody remained unchanged. These songs turned out to be the prototype of the rondo musical form.

This is a specific way of creating a work, in which the main theme - it is usually called a refrain - is constantly repeated (at least three times), while alternating with other musical episodes. If we designate the refrain with the Latin letter A, and other fragments with other letters, then the simplified scheme of the work will look like this: AB-AC-AD and so on. However, the rondo should not become too long. As a rule, it includes five to nine parts. Interestingly, the longest rondo included 17 fragments. This is a passacaglia by the French harpsichordist Francois Couperin. By the way, it was this musical genre that became the progenitor of today's popular electronic music. It also has a lot in common with hip-hop, where it is customary to superimpose other fragments on the refrain. The only difference is that the main motive plays constantly, and does not alternate with other segments of the piece.

Varieties

Now, having determined what a rondo is in music, you can pay attention to its various variants. If we talk about the number of topics and structure, then the following types are distinguished. First of all, a small rondo, a large one, as well as a sonata type, so named because some features of the sonata appear in it.

Various compositionvariants allow the wide use of this form in music. Historically, there is an old rondo, classical, with a smaller number of more contrasting and large sections, and postclassical. It will be interesting to see how this musical form has evolved over time.

History of Form Development

Over the centuries, the musical form of the rondo has changed significantly compared to its original folk version. From song and dance art, she gradually moves into the instrumental sphere. Rondo is used in their work by eminent harpsichord composers who worked in France in the 17th - early 18th centuries: Francois Couperin, Jacques Chambonnière, Jean-Philippe Rameau. At this time, the dominant style of art is rococo, music is distinguished by great grace, sophistication and an abundance of decorations. And Rondo is no exception. But, despite the exaggerated external grace and lightness of the music of this style, there is always a deep inner content and content in it.

Influence of the Viennese classics

In the future, the musical form of this direction changes significantly. This is due to a global change in the style of art, with a new worldview of a person, which could not but affect the nature of the work of poets, artists and, of course, composers. It is worth paying attention to the peculiarities of the development of the rondo form in the music of the Viennese classics. One of the first to use it was J. Haydn. It was then that this musical form acquired classical features. And in the work of V. A. Mozart, it reaches its highest flowering. Speaking of this, it is impossible not to mention his famous "Turkish Rondo".

When writing this piece, Mozart transcribed traditional Turkish orchestral military music for piano performance. Graceful, cheerful, lively, this melody is very well known and loved by many. Another famous composer who used this musical form was L. Beethoven. In his work, rondo is already a great depth, masculinity and scale. It was he who began to use mixed musical forms. This is a sonata rondo. Widely known for his playful and perky "Rage over the lost penny", also written in this form.

Russian representatives

In Russian art, the musical form of this direction was also used by many eminent composers. With the help of its expressive possibilities, they expanded the scope of common musical genres. For example, in A. P. Borodin's romance "The Sleeping Princess", due to the repetition of the refrain inherent in the rondo, the impression of irresistibility, the soundness of the heroine's sleep is created. Episodes follow each other, contrasting with the unchanging and measured slowness of the main theme.

The rondo form was also used in the music of the Soviet era. This had several manifestations. For the most part, elements of the rondo-shaped construction of the work were used. For example, in S. S. Prokofiev's opera "Semyon Kotko",written according to the story of V. P. Kataev "I am the son of the working people." Here the composer, following the principles of rondo composition, achieves wonderful artistic expressiveness: the repeatability of this form, its ability to unite and connect different things, serves as a way to convey the commonality of emotions of all characters.

The future of shape

Now that we already know more about what a rondo is, we can try to draw some conclusions and assumptions. As you can see, the expressive abilities of this form make it possible to use it in different genres, transforming and supplementing them in an amazing way. And, probably, in contemporary art and even in the music of the future there will be a place for it. Remarkably, the rondo not so long ago made its debut in cinema. It is this term that most capaciously describes the plot of the painting "The Beginning".

After all, rondo is a combination of the constant with the changeable, the temporary with the unshakable, the stormy with the measured and, nevertheless, the eternal return to normal. And in this it is akin to our life and even nature itself with its invariable cyclicity.