# A talk about recapitulations



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

When I was a young and impatient lad just getting into classical music, I used to hate the recapitulation. I especially hated it if the development was quite short. "I just listened to this, TWICE, why should I listen to it again?" 

But as I've grown older I've found that recapitulations an be quite interesting. It's not only interesting when the composer varies them as much as possible, but I also think it's interesting, given the right composer, when the recapitulation stays nearly the same and the composer finds a way to stay in the tonic key in the most subtle way possible.

Do you like recapitulations? What do you like or dislike about them?


----------



## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

I feel about recapitulations as Sviatoslav Richter did when he said the listener is being robbed of the music when one is left out. I always think you are getting half the story if for example the recapitulation is left out of a Schubert piano sonata which seems fairly common even amongst the greatest pianists - I'm think of Brendel and Curzon in the B flat sonata, where not having the repeat makes the development sweep in too soon, and who minds listening to that heavenly opening twice!. This is more prevalent in order recordings of Haydn & Mozart where disc space was limited though Thomas Beecham would leave them out in concerts as well as in the studio.


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

violadude said:


> It's not only interesting when the composer varies them as much as possible, but I also think it's interesting, given the right composer, when the recapitulation stays nearly the same and the composer finds a way to stay in the tonic key in the most subtle way possible.


A recapitulation is/can be part of the composition. It is one of the elements in a classical composition that gives it its structure. It recalls the theme, it demarks the end of one section and heralds the start of another, etc. It can also serve to make the music lighter and less academic, like a pop song that has repeated choruses.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Alydon said:


> I feel about recapitulations as Sviatoslav Richter did when he said the listener is being robbed of the music when one is left out. I always think you are getting half the story if for example the recapitulation is left out of a Schubert piano sonata which seems fairly common even amongst the greatest pianists...


I suspect you're thinking about expositions, not recaps.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

When you get older and start deja-vu-ing more, you'll appreciate recaps.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Alydon said:


> I feel about recapitulations as Sviatoslav Richter did when he said the listener is being robbed of the music when one is left out. I always think you are getting half the story if for example the recapitulation is left out of a Schubert piano sonata which seems fairly common even amongst the greatest pianists - I'm think of Brendel and Curzon in the B flat sonata, where not having the repeat makes the development sweep in too soon, and who minds listening to that heavenly opening twice!. This is more prevalent in order recordings of Haydn & Mozart where disc space was limited though Thomas Beecham would leave them out in concerts as well as in the studio.


You mean "repeat"?


----------



## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

There's a Barenboim masterclass video on Youtube where he talks about a theme-and-variations movement of a late Beethoven sonata where the theme is restated at the end. He tells the student, this repeat is of course anything but a simple repeat: the first time the theme is played, is has no memory; but when it returns at the end, it does, it has changed, it must reflect what has happened in between, even though it is, scorewise, merely a da capo.

I feel that Bruckner's recapitulations are composed with this wonderful idea in mind. They are always slightly denser, enriched and intensified, as if they really have aged, matured rather, during the course of the development.


----------



## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

I apologise, I immediately responded to 1st post and thought we were talking 'repeat' rather than recaps - food for another post!


----------



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

The greatest Classicists understood that the only thing that was required of them was to have all material of the Exposition that was not in tonic to be stated in the tonic during the Recapitulation, otherwise they could do as well as they damn well pleased and that's the fun part of some recaps by our Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I enjoy recapitulations very much. The movement is drawing to an end but the composer always still gives a fresh take on the themes, the alterations, the bridge, the "sticking to the tonic" all have something unexpected about them. Sure the material is the same, but after it's been developed it's nice to hear it again. My favourite recap: 1st movement of Mahler 7.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

The recapitulation is often the most important part for me. It is like the climax of the story when a nearly forgotten element from earlier makes a triumphant reappearance. This is why I still love sonata allegro form more than other forms. But even tone poems, fantasias and whatnot should have some kind of thematic return if I am to enjoy them to the fullest.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

violadude said:


> When I was a young and impatient lad just getting into classical music, I used to hate the recapitulation. I especially hated it if the development was quite short. "I just listened to this, TWICE, why should I listen to it again?"


How did you feel about rondos? Or, even better, rondeaux?


----------



## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

If you find writing recapitulations boring you can always just pick a random instrument and write a cadenza for it in the middle of the recap  says Beethoven

Recapitulation is important for narrative reasons, I think... we get to the end of our journey, the same person but changed, with more wisdom. I like very much what was said above about memory.


----------



## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

If the theme being recapped is worthy, then I am in favor of hearing it again. Pre-modern audiences could not just go back to the beginning of the track, and neither can concert audiences. Repeating the best stuff, sometimes with a twist, is appreciated.


----------



## aberooski (Jan 2, 2014)

I like when familiar music comes back later in the piece; whether a full-on-exact recap, or snippits.


----------

