7. Glossary

Cadenza – a section of a concerto in which the soloist plays alone without the orchestra in an improvisatory and virtuosic style

Chamber Music – music, such as art songs, piano character pieces, and string quartets, primarily performed in small performing spaces, often for personal entertainment

Coda – an optional final section of a movement that reasserts the home key of the movement and provides a sense of conclusion

Da Capo – an instruction, commonly found at the end of the B section or Trio of a Minuet and Trio, that tells the performers to return to the “head” or first section, generally resulting in an A-B-A form

Development – the middle section of a sonata form in which the themes and key areas introduced in the exposition are developed

Double-Exposition Form – a form of the first movement of a Classical period concerto that combines the exposition, development, and recapitulation of sonata form with the ritornello form used for the first movements of Baroque concertos; also called first-movement concerto form

Exposition – the first section of a sonata form, in which the themes and key areas of the movement are introduced; the section normally modulates from the home key to a different key

Hemiola – the momentary shifting from a duple to a triple feel or vice versa

Minuet and Trio Form – a form based on the minuet dance that consists of a Minuet (A), then a contrasting Trio (B), followed by a return to the Minuet (A)

Opera Buffa – comic style of opera made famous by Mozart

Opera Seria – serious style of 18th-century opera made famous by Handel that generally features mythology or high-born characters and plots

Pizzicato – the plucking of a bowed string instrument such as the violin, producing a percussive effect

Recapitulation – the third and final section of a sonata form, in which the themes of the exposition return, now in the home key of the movement

Rondo – an instrumental form consisting of the alternation of a refrain “A” with contrasting sections (“B,” “C,” “D,” etc.). Rondos are often the final movements of string quartets, classical symphonies, concerti, and sonata (instrumental solos).

Scherzo – a form that prominently replaced the minuet in symphonies and string quartets of the 19th century. Like the minuet, scherzos are in ternary form and in triple time, although they tend to be somewhat faster in tempo than the minuet.

Sonata Form – a form often found in the first and last movements of sonatas, symphonies, and string quartets, consisting of three parts—exposition, development, and recapitulation

String Quartet – a performing ensemble consisting of two violinists, one violist, and one cellist that plays compositions called string quartets, generally in four movements

Symphony – multi-movement composition for orchestra, often in four movements

Ternary Form – a form of three parts, most often featuring two similar sections, separated by a contrasting section and represented by the letters A–B–A.

Theme and Variations Form – the presentation of a theme and then variations upon it. The theme may be illustrated as A, with any number of variations following it as A’, A’’, A’’’, A’’’’, etc.