Cyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

, in which a theme,

melody A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...

, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and end (for example, in

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

's A minor String Quartet or

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

's Symphony No. 3); other times a theme occurs in a different guise in every part (e.g. Berlioz's ''

Symphonie fantastique ' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performan ...

'', and Saint-Saëns's "Organ" Symphony). The technique has a complex history, having fallen into disuse in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

and Classical eras, but steadily increasing in use during the nineteenth century. The

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

cyclic mass, which incorporates a usually well-known portion of

plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...

as a

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tre ...

in each of its sections, is an early use of this principle of unity in a multiple-section form. Examples can also be found in late-sixteenth- and seventeenth-century instrumental music, for instance in the canzonas, sonatas, and suites by composers such as

Samuel Scheidt Samuel Scheidt (baptised 3 November 1587 – 24 March 1654) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Life and career Scheidt was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with ...

, in which a ground bass may recur in each movement When the movements are short enough and begin to be heard as a single entity rather than many, the boundaries begin to blur between cyclic form and

variation form In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. Variation techniques Mozart's Twelve V ...

. Cyclic technique is not typically found in the instrumental music of the most famous composers from the Baroque and "high classical" eras, though it may still be found in the music of such figures as

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major Europea ...

and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. Nevertheless, in the Classical period, cyclic technique is found in several works of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

: In String Quartet in D minor K. 421, all the four movements are unified by the motif, "F-A-C-C-C-C". In String Quartet No.18 in A major K. 464, different rhythmic motifs of the concept "long-short-short-short" of the first movement and second movement combine in the finale. Mladjenović, Bogunović, Masnikosa, and Radak state that Mozart's Fantasia, K. 475, with its multi-movement structure inscribed in a one-movement sonata form, started something later finished by Liszt in his B minor Piano Sonata.

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

uses cyclic technique at the end of the Symphony No. 31, where the music recalls the horn call heard at the very opening of the work. In sacred vocal music of Baroque and Classical periods, there are several examples of cyclic technique, such as

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanc ...

and Mozart's Mass in C major, K. 317, Spatzenmesse in C major K. 220, Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento K. 243, and especially Requiem in D minor K. 626, where the "DNA" of the Lutheran hymn motif, "D-C#-D-E-F", permeates the entire work. Although other composers were already using this technique, it is

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's example that really popularised cyclic form for subsequent Romantic composers. In Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, a large part of 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 is recalled to end the finale's

development section 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 ...

and lead into the recapitulation; the Ninth Symphony's finale rapidly presents explicit reminiscences of the three preceding movements before discovering the idea that is to be its own principal theme; while both the Piano Sonata Op. 101 and Cello Sonata Op. 102 No. 2 similarly recall earlier movements before their finales. In the 1820s, both

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

and the young

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

wrote numerous important cyclic works: Schubert, in the ''

Wanderer Fantasy The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 ( D. 760), popularly known as the ''Wanderer Fantasy'', is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for th ...

'' (1822) created a "4-in-1" double-function design that would leave its mark decades later on

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, while Mendelssohn, in such works as the

Octet Octet may refer to: Music * Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble ** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments *** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 com ...

(1825) and String Quartet No. 2 (1827) created highly integrated musical forms that proved influential for later Romantic composers. Another significant model was given by

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

in his programmatic ''

'' of 1830, whose " idée fixe" serves as a cyclic theme throughout the five movements. By the 1840s, the technique is already quite established, being found in several works by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

, Fanny Hensel,

Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day. Biography Gade was bor ...

, Franz Berwald, and the earliest compositions of

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...

. Mid-century, Franz Liszt in works such as the B minor Piano Sonata (1853) did a lot to popularize the cyclic techniques of thematic transformation and double-function form established by Schubert and Berlioz. Liszt's sonata begins with a clear statement of several thematic units and each unit is extensively used and developed throughout the piece. By late in the century, cyclic form had become an extremely common principle of construction, most likely because the increasing length and complexity of multiple-movement works demanded a unifying method stronger than mere key relation. At the beginning of the twentieth century,

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...

, a pupil of Franck, promoted the use of the term "cyclic" to describe the technique. The term is more debatable in cases where the resemblance is less clear, such as in the works of Beethoven, who used very basic fragments. Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 is an example of cyclic form in which a theme is used throughout the symphony, but with different orchestration. The "short-short-short-long" four-note motive is embedded in each movement.

Examples

Examples of cyclic works from the classical era and afterwards are: *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

** Symphony No.40 in G minor K.550: similar descending chromatic pattern shared by two outer movements in their second themes ** Symphony No.41 in C major K.551: similarities in the principal rising dotted-rhythmic motifs of the first movement and the second movement; the dotted-rhythmic motif of the second movement develops into a theme that resembles one of the five themes of the finale; the minuet foreshadows the "C-D-F-E" motif of the finale ** String Quartet No.15 in D minor K. 421: "F-A-C-C-C-C" motif heard in all four movements ** String Quartet No.18 in A major K. 464: different rhythmic motifs of the concept "long-short-short-short" of the first movement and second movement combined in the finale. ** Fantasie & Sonata for Piano in C minor K. 475 & 457: motivic similarities between the preceding fantasie and the sonata ** Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor K. 466: The entries of the soloist in the outer movements share the same chord structure ** Spatzenmesse in C major K. 220: theme of the Kyrie recalled in the Dona nobis pacem ** Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento K. 243: theme of the Kyrie recalled in the Miserere ** Mass in C major, K. 317: theme of the Kyrie recalled in the Dona nobis pacem ** Vesperae solennes de Dominica K. 321: A setting of the Minor Doxology (Gloria Patri et Filio) concludes all movements, with a rhythmic similarity in "Gloria" ** Vesperae solennes de confessore K. 339: A setting of the Minor Doxology (Gloria Patri et Filio) concludes all movements, with a rhythmic similarity in "Gloria" ** Mass in C minor K.427: The soprano melody of Quoniam tu solus in measure 96 (F-E-D-C#-C-...) resembles that of Cum sanctu spiritu in measure 98 (G-F#-E-D#-D-...) *

** Symphony No. 31: material from start of first movement recalled at the end of the finale ** Symphony No. 46: material from the menuetto third movement recalled in the finale *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

** Piano Sonata No. 13 ** Piano Sonata No. 28 ** Symphony No. 5: material from scherzo movement recalled in the finale ** Symphony No. 9: all three movements are briefly revisited in the finale *

**''Divertissement a la Hongroise'' **''

'': entire piece based on thematic transformation ** Piano Trio No. 2: materials from the second movement recalled in the finale *

Piano Sextet A piano sextet is a composition for piano and five other musical instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such works. There is no standard grouping of instruments with that name, and compared to the string quartet or piano quintet liter ...

: material from scherzo movement recalled in the finale **

: material from scherzo movement recalled in the finale, plus allusions to first and second movements **Piano Sonata in E, Op. 6: opening of first movement recalled at end of finale ** String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13: introduction to first movement recalled at end of finale, first movement and second movement recalled during finale. ** String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 12: first movement recalled in finale ** Symphony No. 3: thematic transformation across all four movements *

**''

Symphonie Fantastique ' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performan ...

'': "idée fixe" heard in all five movements **'' Harold in Italy'': "idée fixe" heard in all four movements *

** Symphony No. 2 ** Symphony No. 4: thematic transformation across all four movements **

Piano Quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

**Symphony No. 1: first movement recalled in finale *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

** Sonata in B minor **'' Faust Symphony'' * Saint-Saëns ** Symphony No. 3: thematic transformation across all four movements ** Cello Concerto No. 1: two key first movement themes repeated in finale *

** Symphony in D minor **

Violin Sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple baroque form with no fixed fo ...

String Quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

** Piano Sonata No. 1 ** Quartet No. 3 ** Symphony No. 3: The melody opening the first subject in the first movement is recalled in the codas of the first & fourth movements. ** Clarinet Quintet: The melody opening the first movement is recalled just after the 5th variation in the fourth movement, but in the subdominant. The codas in the first & fourth movements are almost the same, except for how it finally closes (first movement closes with quiet B minor chords while fourth movement closes with a loud one and then a quiet one). *

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

**'' Má vlast'', cycle of 6 symphonic poems: The opening from the first work ''Vyšehrad'' recalled in the second ''Vltava'' and the sixth works ''Blaník'', shortly before the latter two end. *

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...

** Symphony No. 5 ** Symphony No. 8 *

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

** Symphony No. 4: "motto" of first movement recalled in the finale **'' Manfred Symphony'': Material from the beginning of the first movement recalled halfway in the third movement. Material from the ending of the first movement used in the middle section of the second movement, and just before the organ sounds in the fourth movement. ** Symphony No. 5: "motto" of first movement recalled in all later movements; first movement's first subject recalled in the finale ** Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky): Opening chorale in first movement is recalled in the coda of the finale *

Anton Arensky Anton Stepanovich Arensky (russian: Анто́н Степа́нович Аре́нский; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Biography Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving ...

** Piano Trio No. 1: Material opening the first movement recalled shortly before the finale ends. Material in the middle section from the third movement recalled halfway in the finale. *

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example ...

** Symphony No. 9: the theme of the first movement returns in all four movements *

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

– Violin Concerto, Op. 36 * Carlos Chávez ** Symphony No. 3 ** Symphony No. 4 *

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

** Symphony No. 1: "motto" theme from the 1st movement returns in the scherzo and finale ** Symphony No. 2: "motto" theme from the 1st movement returns in the slow movement and finale *

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

** Piano Sonata No. 1 ** Piano Sonata No. 2 **'' Trio éléguiaque No. 2'' ** Symphony No. 1 ** Piano Concerto No. 3 *

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

** Chamber Symphony in E major, Op. 33 ** Octet for Strings in C major ** Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 16 ** Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 30 **

in A minor, Op. 29 ** Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 24, No. 3 ** String Quartet No. 1, Op. 22, No. 1 ** String Quartet No. 2, Op. 22, No. 2 ** Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 ** Symphony No. 3, Op. 21 ** Symphony No. 4 ** Symphony No. 5 ** Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 6 *

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

** Piano Concerto No. 1: Main opening theme reappears midway and at end of work, differently orchestrated each time. ** Piano Sonata No. 6: The opening of the first movement recalled in the "Andante" of the fourth movement. ** Symphony No. 6: A theme from first movement is recalled in the finale. ** Symphony No. 7: Both the second and third themes from the first movement return at the climax of the finale. *

Vasily Kalinnikov Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov (russian: Васи́лий Серге́евич Кали́нников; 13 January 1866 – 11 January 1901 ) was a Russian composer. His body of work consists of two symphonies, several additional orchestral wor ...

** Symphony No. 2 *

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

**Suite for 2 Pianos in F-sharp minor, Op. 6: The main theme of the prelude is used in every movement. ** Suite for Variety Orchestra: Material opening the March is recalled at the very end of the Finale. ** Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad": The opening theme of the symphony is briefly recalled at the end of the fourth movement. ** String Quartet No. 8: The "DSCH" motif is used in all four movements as a unifying aspect. *

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

**''

A London Symphony ''A London Symphony'' is the second symphony composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work is sometimes referred to as Symphony No. 2, though the composer did not designate that name for the work. First performed in 1914, the original score of t ...

'' (Symphony No. 2) **

Oboe Concerto A number of concertos (as well as non-concerto works) have been written for the oboe, both as a solo instrument as well as in conjunction with other solo instrument(s), and accompanied by string orchestra, chamber orchestra, full orchestra, concer ...

** Symphony No. 4 ** Symphony No. 5 *

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

** Symphony No. 2 ** Symphony No. 3 (cyclic only with relation to the following Symphony No. 4) ** Symphony No. 4

Sources

* * Footnotes

Examples

Sources

Further reading