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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.
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 Piano Piece, opus 19, no. 2 , opens with an "atomic" sound that repeats over and over.
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 the "Anvil Chorus" of Wagner's Das Rheingold , 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.
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's Symphony in g-minor has a lot of internal repetition. But it also creates a longer musical statementthat is repeated, sinking slightly in pitch the second time.
Here is the phrase by itself:
Here is the phrase with its repetition:
Notice that, in the approximately the same amount of time that Beethoven is able to repeat his motive eleven times and Wagner six, Mozart is only able to repeat his longer phrase twice.
Here is a similar example from Igor Stravinsky's ballet Pétrouchka . Similar to the Mozart , notice that the phrase is repeated in a slightly new form.
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 Piano Sonata, Opus 53 , " Waldstein ," the theme again contains a lot of internal repetition. But the theme itself is repeated in itsentirety, with a more animated accompaniment.
In this excerpt from Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra , the theme is repeated with a more elaborate instrumental accompaniment.
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.
Repetition is often local and immediate. But repetition, especially of larger units, can occur after interveningmusic has taken place.
For instance, in Beethoven's Bagatelle, Opus 126, no. 4 , the following section occurs:
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 module "Time's Effect on the Material" is devoted to the study of recurrence.
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