In music, development is a process by which a musical
idea
In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...
is communicated in the course of a
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
. It refers to the
transformation
Transformation may refer to:
Science and mathematics
In biology and medicine
* Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching
* Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous
* Tran ...
and
restatement of initial material. Development is often contrasted with musical
variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end. ''Development'' is carried out upon portions of material treated in many ''different'' presentations and combinations at a time, while ''variation'' depends upon ''one'' type of presentation at a time.
In this process, certain central ideas are repeated in different contexts or in altered form so that the mind of the listener consciously or unconsciously compares the various incarnations of these ideas. Listeners may apprehend a "tension between expected and real results" (see
irony), which is one "element of surprise" in music. This practice has its roots in
counterpoint, where a theme or subject might create an impression of a pleasing or affective sort, but delight the mind further as its
contrapuntal
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
capabilities are gradually unveiled.
In
sonata form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
, the middle section (between the
exposition
Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to:
*Universal exposition or World's Fair
* Expository writing
** Exposition (narrative)
* Exposition (music)
*Trade fair
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade e ...
and the
recapitulation) is called the ''development''. Typically, in this section, material from the exposition section is developed. In some older texts, this section may be referred to as ''free fantasia''.
According to the ''
Oxford Companion to Music
''The Oxford Companion to Music'' is a music reference book in the series of Oxford Companions produced by the Oxford University Press. It was originally conceived and written by Percy Scholes and published in 1938. Since then, it has underg ...
'' there are several ways of developing a theme. These include:
* The division of a theme into parts, each of which can be developed in any of the above ways or recombined in a new way. Similarly, two or more themes can be developed in combination; in some cases, themes are composed with this possibility in mind.
* Alteration of pitch intervals while retaining the original rhythm.
* Rhythmic displacement, so that the metrical stress occurs at a different point in the otherwise unchanged theme.
*
Sequence
In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...
, either diatonically within a key or through a succession of keys.
The
Scherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often re ...
movement from
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op 28 (the "Pastoral" Sonata) shows a number of these processes at work on a small scale.
Charles Rosen
Charles Welles Rosen (May 5, 1927December 9, 2012) was an American pianist and writer on music. He is remembered for his career as a concert pianist, for his recordings, and for his many writings, notable among them the book ''The Classical Sty ...
(2002) marvels at the simplicity of the musical material: "The opening theme consists of nothing but four F sharps in descending octaves, followed by a light and simple I/ii/V7/I cadence with a quirky motif repeated four times." These opening eight bars provide all the material Beethoven needs to furnish his development, which takes place in bars 33-48:
The division of a theme into parts
The falling octave in the first two bars and the repeated staccato chord in the left hand in bars 5-8 are the two fragments that Beethoven later develops:
Alteration of pitch intervals
The somewhat bald falling octave idea in the first four bars is transformed in bars 33-36 into an elegant shape ending with an upward-curving semitone:
Rhythmic displacement
In this movement, the repeated left hand chords in bar 5 are displaced so that in bar 33 onwards, they fall on the 2nd and 3rd beats:
Sequence and the development of two or more themes in combination
In bars 33-48, the two fragments combine and the development goes through a
modulating sequence
In music, a sequence is the restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice.Benward and Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.111-12. Seventh Edition. . It is on ...
that touches on a succession of keys; The following outline demonstrates Beethoven’s strategic planning, which he applied on a larger scale in the development sections of some of his major works. The
bass line
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and some ...
traces a decisive progression through a rising
chromatic scale
The chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches (more completely, pitch classes) used in tonal music, with notes separated by the interval of a semitone. Chromatic instruments, such as the piano, are made to produce th ...
:
![Outline of development](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Outline_of_development.png)
To quote Rosen again, writing à propos of this movement: "As Beethoven's contemporary, the painter
John Constable, said, making something out of nothing is the true work of the artist."
Development on a larger scale
Not all development takes place in what is commonly known as the "development section" of a work. It can take place at any point in the musical argument. For instance, the “immensely energetic
sonata movement” that forms the main body of the overture to
Mozart’s Opera ''
Don Giovanni'' announces the following theme during the initial exposition. It consists of two contrasting phrases: “first determined, then soft and conspiratorial.”
William Mann says “the first, insistent phrase
f the aboveis very important. At once it is taken up
imitatively by various departments of the orchestra, and
tarting inA major, jumps through several related keys.” Each repetition of the descending phrase is subtly altered one note at a time, causing the music to pass from the key of A major, through A minor and thence via a chord of G7 to the remote key of C major, and thence back to A major.
The central section of the Overture (the part commonly known as the "development section") utilizes both phrases of the theme “in new juxtapositions and new tonalities,” developing it through repetition in a
modulating sequence
In music, a sequence is the restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice.Benward and Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.111-12. Seventh Edition. . It is on ...
. The steady plod of the bass line against the sequential repetitions of the “soft and conspiratorial” phrase outlines a
circle of fifths
In music theory, the circle of fifths is a way of organizing the 12 chromatic pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. (This is strictly true in the standard 12-tone equal temperament system — using a different system requires one interval of ...
chord progression:
Simultaneously, Mozart adds to the mix and continues to develop the
imitative counterpoint that grew out of the first phrase. In the words of Willam Mann, this development “unites both halves”
[Mann, W. (1977, p. 462) the Operas of Mozart. London, Cassell.] of the theme. This is how this tightly woven texture pans out:
See also
*
Developing variation
In musical composition, developing variation is a formal technique in which the concepts of development and variation are united in that variations are produced through the development of existing material.
The term was coined by Arnold Schoen ...
*
*
Secondary development
*
Sequence (music)
In music, a sequence is the restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice.Benward and Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.111-12. Seventh Edition. . It is o ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Development (music)
Formal sections in music analysis