1.1 How music makes sense  (Page 4/7)

Thus, repetition lies at the heart of how we understand music, ourselves and our world. We have a great faith in the richnessand significance of repetition. In listening to music, we rely on repetition as the bearer of meaning.

Repetition of different sizes

Repetitions come in different sizes, from small gestures to entire sections.

The repeating element may be as brief as a single sound. For instance, Arnold Schoenberg's, opens with an "atomic" sound that repeats over and over. Piano Piece, opus 19, no. 2

Listen to the entire one-minute work. You will notice that, as everything changes around it, this repeating soundremains like a "beacon" of stability.

More commonly, the repeating element is a short figure, often called a motive .

Here is the famous motive of Beethoven's. Symphony No. 5

In the opening phrase, this short figure is repeated eleven times, with greater and greater intensity:

In theof Wagner's, the short figure is a rhythmic pattern. In this brief excerpt, the rhythmic motive isrepeated six times as the orchestra builds in intensity on top of it. Das Rheingold

But repetition of longer units can occur. A phrase is a complete musical thought; it is often compared to a sentence. The opening phrase of Mozart'shas a lot of internal repetition. But it also creates a longer musical statementthat is repeated, sinking slightly in pitch the second time. Symphony in g-minor

Here is the phrase by itself:

Here is the phrase with its repetition:

Notice that, in the approximately the same amount of time thatis able to repeat his motive eleven times andsix,is only able to repeat his longer phrase twice. Mozart

Here is a similar example from Igor Stravinsky's ballet. Similar to the, notice that the phrase is repeated in a slightly new form. Pétrouchka Mozart

Even longer units of repetition can occur. A group of phrases can be joined together to create a theme; this mightbe compared to a paragraph. In the following example from Beethoven's, "," the theme again contains a lot of internal repetition. But the theme itself is repeated in itsentirety, with a more animated accompaniment. Waldstein

In this excerpt from Bela Bartok's, the theme is repeated with a more elaborate instrumental accompaniment. Concerto for Orchestra

Finally, even a complete section of music can be repeated--a scale that might be likened to a chapter. This is whathappens in Luciano Berio's brief folk song,. Ballo

Thus, repetition can occur in a variety of sizes, from "atomic" elements to longer time-spans.

Local and large-scale repetition

Repetition is often local and immediate. But repetition, especially of larger units, can occur after interveningmusic has taken place.

For instance, in Beethoven's, the following section occurs: Bagatelle, Opus 126, no. 4

After intervening music, the entire section is repeated exactly and in its entirety. The excerpt picks up at thetransition to the return:

When a repetition occurs after intervening music, we will call it a recurrence . The moduleis devoted to the study of recurrence. "Time's Effect on the Material"

Thus far, we have seen that musical repetition can occur in different sizes and over different time-spans, from local tolarge-scale. We have also seen that smaller repetitions can be "nested" inside of larger ones: Notice, for instance, howthe section fromhas internal repetition of short patterns and longer phrases, and also eventually recurs in its entirety. Beethoven's Bagatelle