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The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period.

Etymology

The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round".

Despite the common etymological root, rondo and rondeau as musical forms are essentially different. Rondeau is a ''vocal'' musical form that was originally developed as monophonic music (in the 13th century) and then as polyphonic music (in the 14th century). Notably, both vocal forms of rondeau nearly disappeared from the repertoire by the beginning of the 16th century. In French, ''rondeau'' is used for both forms, while in English ''rondeau'' is generally used for the ''vocal'' musical form, while ''rondo'' is used for the ''instrumental'' musical form.Don Neville, "Rondò", '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', 4 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 1992).

Form

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: ABACA, ABACAB, ABACBA, or ABACABA. The "ABACA" is often referred as "five-part rondo", the "ABACAB" and "ABACBA" are sometimes called "six-part rondo", and the ABACABA is commonly known as "seven-part rondo". 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. Perhaps the best-known example of rondo form is Beethoven's " Für Elise", an ABACA rondo.

The pattern of repeats, however, in 18th-century ballet music, that is, in music intended specifically for dancing rather than listening, is often not predictable. An instructive example comes from the pasticcio pantomime ballet (around 1760s), extant in the Ferrère manuscript (F-Po Rés. 68). The final , for example, which was taken from J.-P. Rameau's and which was to be played , has a repeat structure of AA BACCA× 4 (that is, after the initial AA, the sequence BBACCA is repeated four times).

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 ripieno ('' tutti'') plays the main ritornello theme, while soloists play the intervening episodes. As typical of Baroque ''continuo'' playing, in the ''tutti'' sections the soloists also play as part of the ensemble; while in the solo sections most of the remaining instruments in the ensemble may stop, in order to provide some transparency to the soloist(s), or may be used sparsely (in either case, the solos are accompanied thoroughly or punctuated by a harpsichord or the like, together with a violoncello da gamba or the like). 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). Thorpe Davie, ''Musical Structure and Design''.

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. The last movement of Beethoven's ''Sonata Pathétique'' is an example of a sonata rondo.

Examples of rondo form

* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, last movement
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 11, last movement, nicknamed "Rondo alla turca"
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Rage Over a Lost Penny
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Rondo for piano and orchestra, WoO, 6
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata Op. 53, last movement
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, last movement
* Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, third movement
* Antonín Dvořák: Rondo for Cello and Orchestra
* Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 6, second movement
* Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1, third movement
* Aram Khachaturian: Violin Concerto, second movement
* Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5, fourth 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).

Other usages

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

Sources
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External links

Rondo and Ritornello Forms in Tonal Music

Rondo form in traditional marches from Limoux' carnival
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* , from Nouvelle Chaconne in E minor by Pierre-Montan Berton, , Reinhard Goebel conducting

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Musical form
Musical symmetry