Simple three part forms

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Simple three part forms

A simple three part form is referred to as ABA. The third section is a recapitulation of the first, sometimes harmonically and melodically modified. The middle section is a contrast to avoid monotony .

• Load form/haydn and view the Arrange window (Figure 4.1).

  Figure Figure 4.1 (above). haydn.lso

  

  
  

This extract is from a Haydn Piano Sonata (Figure 4.2). Track 1 contains the right hand parts and Track 2 the left. You will notice that the Marker contains a reference to the form. Section A is 16 bars long. It is in fact an eight bar segment played twice.

Figure Figure 4.2 (left). haydn.lso

An analogy: Think of A as the home page on a themed Internet site. B is a contrasting section and consists of nine measures. The rhythmic structure and phrasing are similar to the A section but the harmony sets it apart. The scenery is familiar but we've definitely left the home page. The piece finishes with a note for note repetition of A. Back home! It would be more accurately described as an AABA structure.

Here's another example form/minuet this time from Bach's French Suite (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3. minuet.lso

Again we have the A section followed by a contrasting B section. However, in this example the recapitulation has been varied. The reason? Well A ends on the dominant and sounds incomplete. Bach needed an ending. He begins the recapitulation the same (for two bars) but then leads us home to the tonic in the last bar. The Marker Track shows this structure as A1, B and A2.

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