Cyclic form is a technique of
musical constructionThe term musical form is often loosely used to refer to particular musical genres or styles , which may be determined by factors such as harmonic language, typical rhythms, types of musical instrument used as well as historical and geographical origins...
, involving multiple
sectionsIn music, a section is "a complete, but not independent musical idea" . Types of sections include the introduction or intro, exposition, recapitulation, verse, chorus or refrain, conclusion, coda or outro, fadeout, bridge or interlude...
or
movementsA movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession.Often a composer attempts to...
, in which a
themeIn music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. It may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an "idea" or "motif", a theme is usually a complete...
,
melodyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, 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 the
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
Symphony No. 3The Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony written by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Second Symphony...
); other times a theme occurs in a different guise in every part (Berlioz,
Symphonie FantastiqueAn Episode in the Life of an Artist Opus 14, usually referred to by its subtitle Symphonie fantastique is a symphony written by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is widely regarded as one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period, and is still very...
).
Examples can be found throughout music history. The
Renaissance Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given the gradually adopted "Renaissance" characteristics: musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.- Style and trends :The...
cyclic massIn Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole...
, which incorporates a usually well-known portion of
plainsongPlainsong is a body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though similar in many ways and probably older than the Roman tradition, are generally not classified as plainsong...
as a
cantus firmusIn music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though one occasionally sees the corrupt form canti firmi...
in each of its sections, is an early use of this principle of unity in a multiple-section form.
Cyclic form is a technique of
musical constructionThe term musical form is often loosely used to refer to particular musical genres or styles , which may be determined by factors such as harmonic language, typical rhythms, types of musical instrument used as well as historical and geographical origins...
, involving multiple
sectionsIn music, a section is "a complete, but not independent musical idea" . Types of sections include the introduction or intro, exposition, recapitulation, verse, chorus or refrain, conclusion, coda or outro, fadeout, bridge or interlude...
or
movementsA movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession.Often a composer attempts to...
, in which a
themeIn music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. It may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an "idea" or "motif", a theme is usually a complete...
,
melodyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, 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 the
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
Symphony No. 3The Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony written by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Second Symphony...
); other times a theme occurs in a different guise in every part (Berlioz,
Symphonie FantastiqueAn Episode in the Life of an Artist Opus 14, usually referred to by its subtitle Symphonie fantastique is a symphony written by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is widely regarded as one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period, and is still very...
).
Examples can be found throughout music history. The
Renaissance Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given the gradually adopted "Renaissance" characteristics: musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.- Style and trends :The...
cyclic massIn Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole...
, which incorporates a usually well-known portion of
plainsongPlainsong is a body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though similar in many ways and probably older than the Roman tradition, are generally not classified as plainsong...
as a
cantus firmusIn music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though one occasionally sees the corrupt form canti firmi...
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 seventeenth century instrumental music, for instance in the suites of dances by
Samuel ScheidtSamuel Scheidt was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era.He was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with Sweelinck, the distinguished Dutch composer, which was clearly formative on his style...
in which a ground bass recurs 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.
Typically the term applies to music of the nineteenth century and later, though, most famously including the
César FranckCésar Franck , a Belgian composer, organist and music teacher who lived in France, was one of the great figures in Romantic music in the second half of the 19th century.- Biography :...
Symphony in D MinorThe Symphony in D minor is the most famous orchestral work and the only symphony written by the 19th-century Belgian composer César Franck. After two years of work, the symphony was completed 22 August 1888. It was premiered at the Paris Conservatory on 17 February 1889 under the direction of ...
, the
Symphonie Fantastique, and numerous works by
Franz LisztFranz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher....
. 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.
The term is more debatable in cases where the resemblance is less clear, particularly in the works of Beethoven, who used very basic fragments.
Beethoven'sLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
Symphony No. 5Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata allegro, an...
is an example of cyclic form in which a theme is used throughout the symphony, but with different orchestration. They all have the "short-short-short-long" four-note motive embedded into each movement.