In
music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...
, arch form is a
section
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sign ...
al
structure for a piece of music based on
repetition
Repetition may refer to:
*Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words
* Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training
*Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...
, in reverse order, of all or most musical sections such that the overall form is
symmetric
Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definit ...
, most often around a central
movement. The sections need not be repeated verbatim but must at least share
thematic material.
It creates interest through interplay among "memory, variation, and progression". Though the form appears to be static and to deny progress, the pairs of movements create an "undirectional process" with the center, and the form "actually engenders specific expressive possibilities that would otherwise be unavailable for the work as a whole".
[Wilson, Paul (1992). ''The Music of Béla Bartók''. . p. 32.]
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hun ...
is noted for his use of arch form, e.g., in his
fourth and
fifth string quartets,
Concerto for Orchestra, ''
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
''Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta'', Sz. 106, BB 114 is one of the best-known compositions by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Commissioned by Paul Sacher to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the chamber orchestra ''Basler Kammero ...
'',
second piano concerto, and, to a lesser extent, in his
second violin concerto.
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...
's ''
Adagio for Strings'' and Shostakovich's
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor also use arch form.
The most popular arch-form structure is ABCBA.
See also
*
Chiastic structure
Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'. Chia ...
*
ABACABA pattern
*
Sonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form is a musical form often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata and rondo forms.
Structure
Sonata and rondo forms
Rondo form involves the repeated use of a theme (sometimes cal ...
References
Musical form
Symmetry
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