A transition is a passage of music composed to link one section of music to another. Transitions often function as a moment of transformation and may, or may not in themselves, introduce new, musical material.
Often in
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
, the transition is the middle
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 sig ...
or
formal
Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to:
Dress code and events
* Formal wear, attire for formal events
* Semi-formal atti ...
function, while the
main theme
In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a musical composition, composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme.
Characteristics
A subject may be perceiva ...
is the beginning, and the subordinate theme is the ending. It may traditionally be a part of the
sonata form
The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...
's
exposition
Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to:
*Universal exposition or World's Fair
*Expository writing
*Exposition (narrative), background information in a story
* Exposition (music)
*Trade fair
* ''Exposition'' (album), the debut alb ...
in which the composer
modulates from the
key of the
first subject to the key of the second, though many
Classical era
Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...
works move straight from first to second subject groups without any transition.
For example, transition may be defined as different from a subordinate theme (
rondo form) or a
developmental core.
[Caplin (2009). "Response to the Comments", p.54. .]
In
sonata form
The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...
, a retransition (the transition to the
recapitulation) is the last part of the development section which prepares for the return of the first subject group in the tonic, most often through a grand
prolongation of the
dominant seventh
Domination or dominant may refer to:
Society
* World domination, structure where one dominant power governs the planet
* Colonialism in which one group (usually a nation) invades another region for material gain or to eliminate competition
* Ch ...
.
See also
*
Bridge (music)
In music, especially Western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section that prepares for the return of the original material section. It adds a sense of progress within a piece of music and can be used to introduce a source of tension. In ...
*
Coda (music)
In music, a coda (; ; plural ) is a passage (music), passage that brings a piece (or a movement (music), movement) to an end. It may be as simple as a few bar (music), measures, or as complex as an entire section (music), section.
In classical mus ...
Sources
Auxiliary members
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