Music Theory Form and Analysis Syllabus

What is a da capo aria?

A Baroque vocal ternary form (ABA) in which the score writes out only A and B; the instruction 'da capo' (from the head) directs performers to repeat A, which singers customarily ornamented on the return.

What is theme and variations form?

A form in which a self-contained theme (often binary) is stated first and then followed by a series of discrete variations — restatements that preserve some elements of the theme (typically its phrase structure, harmonic plan, or bass line) while altering others (melody, rhythm, texture, mode, tempo). Diagram: A A¹ A² A³ …

Distinguish sectional variations from continuous variations.

Sectional variations: each variation is a discrete, cadentially closed unit based on a full theme (Classical theme-and-variations). Continuous variations: variations flow into one another over a short, constantly repeating unit — a ground bass or harmonic pattern — as in the passacaglia and chaconne.

What is a ground bass, and which two Baroque genres are built on continuous variation over a repeating pattern?

A ground bass (basso ostinato) is a short bass line repeated over and over while upper parts vary above it. The passacaglia (traditionally over a repeating bass melody) and the chaconne (traditionally over a repeating harmonic progression) are the principal continuous-variation genres.

List five common techniques for varying a theme in variation form.

1) Melodic ornamentation/figuration (embellishing the tune), 2) rhythmic alteration (new meter, note values, or dance character), 3) mode change (major to minor or vice versa — the 'minore' variation), 4) textural/accompanimental change (new figuration, counterpoint, register), 5) harmonic reharmonization or tempo/character change.

What are the three main sections of sonata form, and what happens in each?

1) Exposition: presents the main themes and establishes a key conflict (tonic vs. secondary key). 2) Development: manipulates, fragments, and sequences the material through unstable, modulating harmony. 3) Recapitulation: restates the exposition's material resolved into the tonic key. An optional slow introduction may precede and a coda may follow.

What are the standard thematic components of a sonata-form exposition, in order?

Primary theme (P) in the tonic; transition (TR), which modulates and often ends with a medial caesura; secondary theme (S) in the new key; and closing section/codetta (C) confirming the new key, often ending with the essential expositional closure (a PAC in the secondary key).

In sonata form, to which key does the secondary theme go in the exposition of (a) a major-key movement and (b) a minor-key movement?

(a) Major-key movements: the dominant, V. (b) Minor-key movements: the relative major, III (or, alternatively, the minor dominant, v). In the recapitulation this material returns transposed to the tonic.

What is the key event of the sonata-form recapitulation, and what is the retransition?

The recapitulation restates the exposition with the essential change that the secondary theme and closing material now appear in the tonic, resolving the movement's key conflict. The retransition is the passage at the end of the development — typically a dominant preparation (standing on V) — that leads back to the tonic return of the primary theme (the 'double return' of P and the home key).

Name four techniques typical of a sonata-form development section.

1) Fragmentation of exposition themes into motives, 2) sequential repetition through multiple keys, 3) rapid modulation and tonal instability (often touching remote keys), 4) contrapuntal combination (imitation, invertible counterpoint) — frequently culminating in a dominant pedal before the recapitulation.

What is the letter scheme of the five-part rondo, and what harmonic rule governs the refrain?

ABACA. The refrain (A) returns in the tonic key each time it appears; the episodes (B, C) provide contrast in different but usually related keys (commonly V or IV for B, and the relative or parallel key for C).

What is the seven-part rondo scheme, and what is a sonata-rondo?

Seven-part rondo: ABACABA (the B episode returns, transposed to the tonic the second time). A sonata-rondo fuses this with sonata form: A = primary theme, first B = secondary theme in the dominant (returning later in the tonic), and C functions as a development section. Common in Classical finales.

What distinguishes a rondo refrain from its episodes?

The refrain is a stable, tuneful, harmonically closed theme that always returns in the tonic (sometimes ornamented or abbreviated). Episodes are contrasting passages between refrains, set in different keys, often less stable, and may be transitional or developmental in character.

In which movement position and at what tempo is rondo form most commonly found in Classical works?

As the finale (last movement) of sonatas, symphonies, and concertos, typically at a fast, lively tempo with a catchy, dance-like refrain.

In a fugue, define subject, answer, and countersubject.

Subject: the main theme, stated alone at the opening in the tonic. Answer: the subject's imitation in the second voice, transposed to the dominant. Countersubject: a recurring counterpoint that consistently accompanies the subject/answer in another voice (it must work in invertible counterpoint).

What is the difference between a real answer and a tonal answer in a fugue?

A real answer is an exact transposition of the subject to the dominant (every interval preserved). A tonal answer adjusts one or more intervals — typically answering scale degree $\hat{5}$ with $\hat{1}$ (rather than $\hat{2}$) — to keep the music anchored in the home key, especially when the subject emphasizes the dominant.

Describe the exposition of a fugue and what an episode is.

The fugal exposition presents the subject successively in every voice, alternating subject (tonic) and answer (dominant), until all voices have entered. An episode is a passage between subject entries that contains no complete subject statement — usually sequential development of subject or countersubject fragments, often modulating to the key of the next entry.

What is stretto in a fugue?

Overlapping subject entries: a second voice begins the subject before the previous voice has finished it. Stretto intensifies the texture and is often reserved for the fugue's climax near the end.

Define invertible counterpoint and pedal point as fugal/contrapuntal devices.

Invertible counterpoint: two (or more) lines written so they still work when their registral positions are swapped — the lower voice can become the upper (most commonly inversion at the octave). Pedal point: a sustained note, usually the dominant or tonic in the bass, held while harmonies change above it; fugues often end over a tonic pedal.

What is harmonic reduction?

An analytical technique that strips away surface elaboration — non-chord tones, figuration, arpeggiation, repetitions — to reveal the underlying chord progression and voice leading of a passage, typically notated as block chords with Roman numerals.

In harmonic reduction, how do you distinguish structural chords from embellishing chords?

Structural chords define the phrase's harmonic goals: they fall on strong metric positions, participate in cadences, and support the main melodic tones (e.g., the I and V of a cadential progression). Embellishing chords (passing, neighbor, and other linear chords) arise from voice leading between structural harmonies and can be removed without destroying the progression's logic.

What kinds of surface events are removed first when making a harmonic reduction?

Non-chord tones (passing tones, neighbor tones, suspensions, appoggiaturas, anticipations, escape tones), arpeggiated figuration and Alberti-bass patterns (consolidated into block chords), octave doublings, and immediate repetitions of the same harmony.

What fundamental phrase-level progression does harmonic reduction typically reveal beneath the surface of tonal music?

A basic functional progression from tonic through predominant to dominant and back to tonic — T–PD–D–T, e.g., I–IV–V–I or I–ii⁶–V–I — with all other chords shown to be prolongations or connections of these pillars.

What are the three structural levels in Schenkerian analysis?

Foreground (the musical surface with its details), middleground (intermediate levels showing prolongations and larger spans), and background (the deepest level, reducible to the Ursatz or fundamental structure).

In Schenkerian analysis, what is the Ursatz and what are its two components?

The Ursatz (fundamental structure) is the background skeleton of a tonal work, comprising the Urlinie — a stepwise descending upper line to $\hat{1}$ — and the Bassbrechung (bass arpeggiation) I–V–I in the bass.

What are the three possible forms of the Urlinie (fundamental line)?

Stepwise diatonic descents to the tonic beginning from $\hat{3}$, $\hat{5}$, or $\hat{8}$: $\hat{3}$–$\hat{2}$–$\hat{1}$; $\hat{5}$–$\hat{4}$–$\hat{3}$–$\hat{2}$–$\hat{1}$; or $\hat{8}$–$\hat{7}$–$\hat{6}$–$\hat{5}$–$\hat{4}$–$\hat{3}$–$\hat{2}$–$\hat{1}$.

In Schenkerian terms, what is prolongation?

The principle that a single structural harmony or tone remains conceptually in effect while the surface elaborates it — through neighbor and passing motion, arpeggiation, linear progressions, and voice exchanges — so that spans of music 'compose out' one underlying harmony (e.g., an entire passage prolonging tonic).

In formal diagramming, what do the labels A, B, A' and lowercase letters like a and b conventionally indicate?

Capital letters label large formal sections (A = first section, B = contrasting section); a prime mark (A') means the section returns varied or modified rather than exactly. Lowercase letters (a, b, a') label smaller units — phrases or subsections — within those large sections.

Besides section letters, what information should a complete formal diagram include?

Measure numbers for each section's boundaries, the key/tonal area of each section (with modulations), cadence types and locations (HC, PAC, IAC, DC), thematic labels or motivic content, and any introduction, transition, retransition, codetta, or coda.

Give the standard letter diagrams for: simple binary, rounded binary, ternary, five-part rondo, and sonata form.

Simple binary: ||: A :||: B :||. Rounded binary: ||: A :||: B A' :||. Ternary: A B A (each section closed). Five-part rondo: A B A C A. Sonata form: Exposition (P–TR–S–C) – Development – Recapitulation (P–TR–S–C in tonic), optionally with introduction and coda.