Rondo is a form featuring a main section (referred to as either A or refrain) that returns throughout a work and is juxtaposed with contrasting sections (referred to as B, C, etc., or as episodes).

Common formal layouts include ABACA (five-part) and ABACABA (seven-part, likely sonata rondo).

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Conceptually, rondo is quite simple: the form consists of a recurring main section that alternates with contrasting sections. As with other forms, rondo can include a variety of auxiliary sections. In rondo form, it is tradition to call the repeating main section the refrain (or A), and the contrasting sections are referred to as episodes (and/or by letters: B, C, etc.).

The refrain material is essentially the same throughout the course of a movement (allowing for some embellishment or abbreviation) and is always heard in the tonic key. Episodes contrast with refrains tonally, and usually thematically as well. A given episode may occur multiple times in the movement or only once.

The most common manifestations of rondo form are either five-part rondo (ABACA) or sonata rondo (ABACABA), summarized in Example 1. There are two main differences between them:

In sonata rondo, the C section is often akin to a sonata form's development section, whereas in a five-part rondo, the C section is likely to be a relatively stable thematic statement like any other episode.

In sonata rondo, the first ABA (i.e., ABACABA) constitutes the equivalent of a complete sonata exposition (without the repeat, and it ends in the tonic), and the second ABA (i.e., ABACABA) functions as the recapitulation, where the B section is now transposed to the tonic key.

[](https://viva.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/12/2019/05/rondo-combined.png) Example 1. General outline of five-part rondo and sonata-rondo forms.

Refrains, Episodes, and Auxiliary Sections in Rondo Form

Refrains are constructed as a combination of one or more phrases and could even be an entire binary form. You can expect that they will have a clear ending punctuated with a perfect authentic cadence (PAC) and will be relatively stable thematic statements. Episodes may be structured like that as well (though with contrasting keys and melodic/motivic material), or they can include destabilizing features like modulation, chromatic harmony, and phrase expansion. Episodes may end with a clear PAC, or they may have ambiguous endings, even lacking a cadence and merging into a retransition section instead through the process of becoming.

Like other forms, rondo form can have auxiliary sections. The most common are retransitions that generate anticipation for the refrain's return. Codas are also quite common, but introductions are not.

Analytical Challenges with Episodes: Transition ⇒ Episode or Episode ⇒ Retransition

Like the other forms, rondos may include any combination of auxiliary sections, though retransitions that dramatize the return of the refrain are particularly common. Since episodes are often relatively looser than their refrain counterparts, two sections may blend together through the process of becoming (⇒). In particular, a transition may become an episode without any clear delineation of the two formal sections. Similarly, the episode itself may not reach a clear cadential conclusion (i.e., a PAC in the key of the episode) and instead may become a retransition that prepares for the statement of another refrain. However, it is unlikely to find both of these situations occurring within a single episode. One of the important distinctions between the end of a connective section (transition/retransition) and a stable thematic statement (refrains and episodes) is that connective sections tend to emphasize their arrival on the dominant, while stable thematic statements tend to emphasize the arrival at a PAC.

Five-Part Rondo Example

Example 2. Maria Hester Park, Piano Sonata in C major, Op. 7, 3rd movement - Audio (YouTube) - Click to See Score (PDF)

The final movement from Maria Hester Park's Sonata in C major, Op. 7, from 1796 is a relatively clear example of a five-part rondo form. The A section (refrain) lasts from mm. 1–26 and consists of multiple phrases. The B section (episode 1) does not start right away at m. 27; it is instead separated from A by a transition (mm. 27–44) that modulates to the key of the dominant in m. 38 during a passage of chromaticism involving modal mixture. Unlike most transitions, this transition actually ends on the upcoming local tonic of G major (mm. 42–44) instead of the local dominant. B's primary thematic material lasts from mm. 45–54, and its ending is elided with a suffix that eventually becomes a retransition (around m. 71) that harmonically prepares for the return of A in m. 73. This second statement of A lasts from mm. 73–98 and is a complete repeat of the first statement of A. C (episode 2) starts in m. 99, immediately after the second statement of A, and is in a contrasting key, the submediant (A minor). The C section (mm. 99–132) is longer than the B section. Its ending elides with the start of a suffix that becomes a retransition (around m. 135). The third and final statement of A starts in m. 141 and is again a complete repeat of the initial statement of A.

Sonata Rondo Example



Example 3. Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 13, 3rd movement - Click to See Score (PDF)

The A Sections (Refrains)

The last movement from Beethoven's Op. 13 piano sonata (subtitled Grande Sonate pathétique) is an example of a sonata-rondo form. The form is fairly complex, and while most of the sections are quite clear, the B section in p