&sq=Albert Einstein&lang=en&file=File:Question_book-new.svg){kind=small} | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
In music, a cycle can be several things. Acoustically, it is one complete vibration, the base unit of Hertz being one cycle per second.[1] Theoretically, an interval cycle is a collection of pitch classes created by a sequence of identical intervals. Cycles are also individual pieces of larger works, like the movements in a suite, symphony sonata, or string quartet.[2] This can range from settings of the Mass or a song cycle to an opera cycle. Another cycle is the complete performance of an individual composer's work in one genre.[3]
Harmonic cycles—repeated sequences of a harmonic progression—are at the root of many musical genres, such as the twelve-bar blues. In compositions of this genre, the chord progression may be repeated indefinitely, with melodic and lyrical variation forming the musical interest. The form theme and variations is essentially of this type, but generally on a larger scale.
Composition using a tone row is another example of a cycle of pitch material, although it may be more difficult to hear because the variations are more diverse.
- ^ Randel, Don, "Cycle", The Harvard Dictionary of Music, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1986, p. 218.
- ^ G. M. Tucker and Roger Parker, "Cyclic Form", The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).
- ^ "cycle." In The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e7623 (accessed December 25, 2011).