Movement

Many large works are divided into movements: complete sections that can almost stand on their own, each with a beginning, a middle and an ending. A symphony typically has four, a concerto three, a sonata two to four, and a suite or a set of songs can have many more.

How movements are named

Most movements are known by their tempo marking. "The Andante of Mozart's sonata" means the slow movement marked andante. Others are named after a dance or form (minuet, scherzo, rondo, gigue), and some have descriptive titles. In programs you will see them listed with Roman numerals:

1. I. Allegro
2. II. Andante
3. III. Menuetto
4. IV. Presto

Why works have movements

Contrast. A sequence of movements lets a composer place a fast, dramatic opening, a slow lyrical middle, a dance and a lively finale side by side. Movements usually differ in tempo, meter, character and often key, but belong together: the outer movements are normally in the home key, and the inner ones often move to a closely related key.

Each movement has its own form

The word movement tells you nothing about the form inside it. A Classical first movement is very often in sonata form; a slow movement may be in ternary form or variations; a minuet uses ternary form (minuet, trio, minuet); a finale is often a rondo.

Pauses between movements

Between movements, performers usually pause briefly to tune or reset. In concerts today, audiences usually hold their applause until the end of the whole work, although that custom is relatively recent: audiences of the 18th and 19th centuries often applauded between movements. A composer can also link movements without a break, marked attacca ("attack," go straight on).

Movement or piece?

When a teacher assigns "the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata," you are learning one part of a three-movement work. Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 has a slow first movement, a short second movement in the style of a minuet, and a stormy, fast finale. The Moonlight Sonata study looks inside the first.