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 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.
Origins in Italian opera Writers on the origin of the rondo form have made connections to the use and development of
ritornello in
early Italian opera at the very end of the 16th century and early 17th century. With the advent of opera in Italy in the very last years of the 16th century, ritornello form continued to develop specifically within the structure of the
aria and opera chorus. Ritornello form was used in instrumental preludes, interludes or postludes (or any combination of these) within the aria and opera chorus; most frequently in the context of opera arias but also in 17th century sacred works such as vocal arias and choruses within
oratorios and
cantatas. Only 100 years later at the beginning of the 18th century was the ritornello technique transferred to the concerto; long after the rise of the rondo in France in the 17th century. The use and development of ritornello in the aria served a practical purpose; as the structure was used to clearly separate vocal sections of the aria from the instrumental preludes, interludes or postludes within the composition. Repeating or paraphrasing instrumental music in the structure of the aria provided a felicitous dramatic structure which could facilitate character entrances and exits, emphasize dramatic intent, or could provide music used with scene transformations or even accompaniments for dances. Ultimately, the use of ritornello in Italian opera led to the creation of some early Italian arias and opera choruses which follow a traditional rondo form in which the main theme is repeated in its entirety and in the same key. The earliest example of this is within
Jacopo Peri's
Euridice (1600) in which the choruses "Al canto al ballo" and "Sospirate aure celesti" are arranged using a rondo structure. These early examples use a multi-couplet rondo or chain rondo (ABACAD) now known as the
Italian rondo.
Rondeau form in French Baroque music The rondo form, usually referred to in English using the French spelling rondeau when applied to French music, was a popular form in France from the mid to late 17th century and into the 18th century. The French composers of the
Baroque period employed rondeau form in a wide range of media, including
opera,
ballet,
choral music,
art songs,
orchestral music,
chamber music, and works for solo instrument. The composer
Jean-Baptiste Lully is sometime credited as the 'father of the rondeau', as he was allegedly the first composer to utilize a two-couplet design to his rondeau structure; a technique he did not consistently adopt but which was later adopted and standardized by
Jean-Philippe Rameau whose construction of the rondeau was codified by the 17th century music theorist
Jean Du Breuil in what became known as the
French rondeau. Some examples of Lully's use of the French rondeau include the "Rondeau pour les basques" from the ballet
Intermède de Xerxes (1660), the "Rondeau pour la gloire" from the prologue of the opera
Alceste (1674), and the chorus "Suivons Armide" from the opera
Armide (1686). Three other important early rondeau composers of the Baroque period included
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières and the brothers
Louis Couperin and
François Couperin; all of whom wrote several rondeau for
keyboard. Chambonnières composed a French rondeau for keyboard in F major simply titled
Rondeau, and also composed many chaconnes-rondeaux; some of which follow the two-couplet design of the French rondeau but others displaying up to as many as five couplets. Louis Couperin was also experimental with the number of couplets he employed in his rondeau compositions; usually using three or four couplets in his rondeau construction. Louis's
Passacaille for harpsichord has a nine couplet rondeau form. François Couperin was the leading and most prolific French Baroque composer of rondeau composed for the
harpsichord. In the late part of the Baroque period, the composer
Jean-Marie Leclair was a particularly innovative composer within the French rondeau form; especially within his aria movements for violin. Leclair was one of the earliest composers to change metre and tempo within a couplet such as in his op.1 no.9,
Allegro ma non presto, and to contain a rondeau within a rondeau in the final couplet as in his opus 1 number 1,
Aria.
Spread of the rondeau form internationally The music of French Baroque composers like Lully and Rameau spread across Europe and influenced composers across the continent beginning in the late 17th century.
Henry Purcell was one of the earliest composers in England to adopt the form; writing a
Rondeau as the second movement of his music for the play
Abdelazer by
Aphra Behn which premiered at the
Dorset Garden Theatre on July 3, 1676. In Germany, the composers
Georg Muffat,
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, and
Johann Sebastian Bach all adopted French forms and techniques in some of their compositions; including utilization of the rondeau form. J.S. Bach's utilization of rondeau includes the
Passepied I from
Suite No. 5 in E minor (c. 1725) in his
English Suites, the fifth movement 'Rondeaux' from
Partita for keyboard No. 2, BWV 826 (c. 1725–1727), the third movement
Partita for Violin No. 3 (1720), and the Rondeau from the
Suite No. 2 in B minor (c. 1738–1739).
Rondo and sonata form 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.
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. 13, 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==