The rondo finale: an alternative to ritornello form in the late 18th century oboe concerto and its descendents

Charles-David Lehrer

Introduction and Overview of Prior Article
The Introduction of the Rondo as an Alternative to Ritornello Form...
The Rondo with Trio-Like Episodes...
The Rondo with Developmental Episodes...
Mozart's Rondo-Sonata Form...
The Introduction of Sonata Form as a Suitable Finale in 19th Century Romanticism...
Concluding Remarks...
Bibliography and Discography

In a recent article for the I.D.R.S, "The Evolution of the First Movement Structure in the 18th Century Oboe Concerto," (Journal No. 14, pp. 76-87), I described in some detail the procedure followed by composers from Vivaldi to Martinu in creating interesting, and often exceedingly complex, "opening music" in compositions for oboe and orchestra. I also mentioned that this same type of structure known as Ritornello Form is followed in the "closing music" in many of the same compositions. This is particularly true of the final movements of oboe concerti written from 1700 until about 1770. After that time, a procedure known as Rondo (Rondeau) would, together with Theme and Variations, begin to control the structure of the third movement.

The terminology used in this sequel is identical to that used in the Ritornello Form article. Let me state these again:

Read Horizontally:

 I, V, vi, I  Tonalities
 Ritornello (RI, R2, R3, R4)  Music of the Tutti
 Episode (El, E2, E3)  Music of the Soloist
 1-50, 84-91, 116-145  Measure Numbers

Read Vertically:

 A  Theme of the Ritornello
 A, B, D, E  Themes of the Episodes
 Cl, C2, C3, etc.  Closing Themes

As defined in my earlier article, a Phase III, or Classical Age of concerto composing activity, lasted from about 1770 until the 1820s by which time Romanticism had taken root. Phases I and II, the Late Baroque and Early Classical eras which preceded Classicism, had maintained Ritornello Form for the final movement of the concerto with very few exceptions. And since these exceptions are found as the last movements of three concerti well-known to every oboist, I should like to list them:

Binary Form in Phase I (Late Baroque Era):

Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059 (c.1717)
George Frederick Handel: Concerto in Bb Major (1740)

Theme and Variations in Phase I (Late Baroque Era):

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in C Major, RV 447, (PV41)

To be sure, Theme and Variations, the theme more often than not being a Binary Form, would continue to surface in later phases and become, like the Rondo, an alternative to Ritornello Form in the finale of a concerto. A few of the more famous examples are as follows:

Theme and Variations in Phase III (Classic Era):

Anonymous (attributed to Franz Joseph Haydn): Concerto in C Major
Anonymous (attributed to Mozart): Sinfonia Concertante, K 279b
Antonio Salieri: Concerto for Violin, Oboe & Cello in D Major (1770)

Theme and Variations in Phase IV (Romantic Era):

Gustave Vogt: Lettre A, Solo de Cor Anglais
Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Introduction, Theme and Variations, Op. 102 (1825)
Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov: Variations for Oboe and Military Band (1878)
Antonino Pasculli: Concerto sopra motivi dell' opera La Favorita

The Introduction of the Rondo as an Alternative to Ritornello Form...

When the brilliant oboist, Johann Christian Fischer, created his Concerto in C Major ("A favourite concerto for the Hoboy") around the year 1768 the final movement was composed in "Tempo di Minuetto" and in the structural style called Rondo, then a vogue that was sweeping all of Western Europe. So famous was Fischer's Rondeaux, as he called it, that Mozart was to use its Ritornello as the basis of a set of Variations KV 179.

Its structure consists of three Ritornelli and two Episodes or Couplets:

Figure 1: Johann Christian Fischer: Oboe Concerto in C Major (c. 1768)
Third Movement: Rondeaux

 I i I I I
 R1 E1 R2 E2 R3
 A1 solo ||:A1:||  A1 B1 A1 tutti
 A1 tutti A2 A1 B2 A2 solo
 ||:A2 solo
A1 tutti:||		  (Variation of R1)  B4 B3
C tutti		  A1 solo-tutti
       B3  
 1-50   84-91   116-145

 

Fischer's structure is most interesting as he begins by composing RI as a rounded binary form ||:Al:||:A2 Al:|| and then follows with one variation in the relative minor. Perhaps he remembered that in the past Theme and Variations, the theme being in binary form, was an acceptable substitute for the usual Ritornello Form. We have already seen an example of this in Vivaldi's C Major Concerto, PV 41.

Following the variation, which acts as an episode or couplet, is a truncated statement of the opening A theme in the tonic acting as a Ritornello. After this a section Bl, B2, B3, B4, B3 works as yet another episode. This is followed by a restatement of the opening ritornello in the tonic, but without the usual repeats of binary form. One closing theme, C, brings the movement to a close. Gone is the intricate tonality pattern used by the ritornelli of Ritornello Form, namely, I, V, vi, I or i, III, v, i, since all of the ritornelli in a Rondo are in the tonic. In addition, the number of ritornelli in Rondo will vary from work to work, unlike Ritornello Form where the standard is four. Another very notable feature of the Rondo is its thematically simple, even naive, ritornello.

Also, of interest is the fact that the first section of the opening ritornello is first stated by the soloist and then repeated by the tutti, a characteristic which would continue throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries for the Rondo when it was used in a concerto.

It should be mentioned that Fischer did not invent the craze for the Rondo. Also, and its usage had been standard for quite some time in keyboard music either as separate items or as integral movements in suites and sonatas. For example, the actual concept of Rondo was already operating full tilt in the Ordres and Concerts Royaux of Francois Couperin in the Baroque Era. And to be sure, the finale of J.S. Bach's Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042, composed about fifty years before the Fischer example, is a Rondo with five statements of the ritornello and four episodes, but it was not part of a trend as is Fischer's Rondo.

Despite the popularity of the new Rondo finale, a number of well-known oboe concerti written by trend-setters in the Classical world, do not use the then up-to-date alternative. Among them are the following in which the Ritornello Form finale is formed with the same intricate detail found in opening movements:

"Modern" Oboe Concerti of the Classic Era
With Ritornello Form Finales

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Concerto in Bb Major, Wq 164 (c.1765)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Concerto in Eb Major, Wq 165 (c.1765)
Johann Stamitz: Concerto in C Major
Johann Baptist Vanhal: Concerto in F Major (c.1770)
Johann Baptist Vanhal: Concerto in C Major (c. 1770)
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf: Concerto in G Major (c.1775)
Franz Joseph Haydn: Sinfonia Concertante in Bb Major (1792)

At least one oboe concerto in the Romantic Age ends with Ritornello Form:

Wilhelm Bernhard Molique: Concertino (1829)

Also the Neo-Classic Movement in the 20th Century
Has Provided a Few Examples of the Ritornello form Finale:

Cyril Scott: Oboe Concerto (1946)
Bohuslav Martinu: Oboe Concerto (1955)

In looking over the lists above it is interesting to note that both C.P.E. Bach's Eb Major Concerto and Johann Stamitz' C Major Concerto end in a Ritornello Form "Tempo di Minuetto", this threefour meter being usually associated with finales constructed as a Rondo or as a Theme and Variations. It is almost as if the two composers are ashamed of using Ritornello Form. Also, the finale of the Scott Concerto is labeled "Rondo Giocoso" rather than "Ritornello Form Giocoso". This is clearly reminiscent of Dave Brubeck who during the same period entitled his engaging waltz "It's a Raggy Waltz " rather than " It's a Hemiola-Laden Waltz "! Again, as with C. P. E. Bach and Stamitz, Scott and Brubeck did not want to scare off the public of their time with what was somewhat of an antiquated term.

The Rondo with Trio-Like Episodes...

It should be born in mind that although Ritornello Form and Rondo obviously have the same roots, that is the alternation of a main idea played by the tutti and a series of subsidiary ideas played by the soloist, the late 18th Century Rondo tended to use light and snappy, even silly, themes as the basis for the ritornello. Furthermore, in the new perky Rondos the creation of episodes in binary form was so commonplace that there developed a class of Rondo that consisted basically of a ritornello alternating with a series of trios as one might find in the Minuetto of an 18th Century Symphony or Serenade. The following oboe concerti contain such final movements. Note that the finale of Salieri's Concerto for Flute and Oboe is actually in the "tempo" of the minuetto, that is, in three-four. meter.

Oboe Concerti Containing a Rondo Finale
With All or Some Episodes Constructed as Trios

Ludwig August Lebrun: Concerto in D Minor (c.1777)
Joseph Fiala: Concerto in D Major
Joseph Fiala: Concerto in Bb Major
Joseph Fiala: Concertante for English Horn and Clarinet in Bb Major
Francesco Antonio Rosetti: Concerto in C Major
Antonio Salieri: Concerto for Flute & Oboe in C Major (1774)
Frantisek Vincec Kramar: Concerto in F Major, Op. 52 (1805)
Carl Maria von Weber (attributed to): Concertino in C Major (c. 1813)
Anonymous (attributed to Mozart): Concerto in Eb Major
Stanislas Verroust: Triosieme Solo de Concert in F Major
Stanislas Verroust: Quatrierne Solo de Concert in D Minor (c. 1856)
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari: Idillio-Concertino, Op. 15 (1933)

The structure of the Fiala Concerto in D Major in Laila Storch's edition for Boosey and Hawkes is an example of the Trio Episode type of Rondo finale, many of which contain four ritornelli and three episodes as would a standard Ritornello Form.

Figure 2: Joseph Fiala: Concerto in D Major
Third Movement: Rondo Moderato

 I IV I vi I I I
 R1 E1 R2 E2 R3 E3 R4
 A1 solo B1 A1 solo D1 A1 solo A2 variant A1 solo
 A1 tutti B2 A1 tutti D1 in I A1 tutti E A1 tutti
 A2 C1 A2 D2 A2 E tutti A2
 A1 Cadenza A1 C1 A1 C2 A1
   B1   D1   C3  
           C4  
 1-31   73-103   155-185   200-250

The Rondo with Developmental Episodes...

On the other hand, there are an equal number of concerti that do not exhibit trio-like episodes in the Rondo finale. This type of Rondo, therefore, has close ties to Ritornello Form as its episodes often contain development of the motivic material found in the opening ritornello of the movement. The following concerti fall within this classification:

Oboe Concerti Containing Rondo Finales
With Developmental Episodes

Johann Christian Fischer: Concerto in Eb Major (c.1770)
Johann Christian Bach: Concerto in F Major, T 290/7
Johann Christian Bach (attributed to): Concerto in F Major, T 287/4
Carl Stamitz: Concerto in Bb Major (c. 1774)
Antoine-Joseph Reicha: Scene pour le Cor Anglais (1811)
Gaetano Donizetti: Concertino per Corno Inglese (1816)
Julius Rietz: Konzertstueck, Op. 33 (c.1846) Gordon Jacob: Concerto No. 1 (1933)

Within this group both the J.C. Bach T 287/4 and Carl Stamitz finales carry rubrics Tempo di minuetto and Minuetto respectively! The Eb Major Concerto of J.C. Fischer, contains an excellent example of the Rondo finale with developmental episodes:

Figure 3: Johann Christian Fischer: Concerto in Eb Major (c. 1770)
Third Movement: Rondeau Allegro

 I V I V I vi-I I IV  I
 R1 E1 R2 E2 R3 E3 R4 E4 R5
A solo A Dev A solo A Dev A solo A Dev A solo A Dev A solo
 A tutti  C1 A tutti C1 A tutti C2 A tutti C2 A tutti
                 C3
               C4
                 C5
 1-16   38-35   7-92   144-159   204-232

 

Mozart's Rondo-Sonata Form...

The article concerning Rondo contained in the New Groves Dictionary maintains that it was Mozart who introduced the concept of combining the Rondo with Sonata Form. In any case, the earliest known example of such a procedure is the finale of Mozart's String Quartet, KV 157 completed in 1773. The article went on to say that a characteristic of Mozart's double structure is his omission of the ritornello which normally would appear between the second and third episodes. I subjected the Rondo finale of his famous C Major Oboe Concerto to analysis:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C Major, KV 314 (1777)
Third Movement: Rondo Allegretto

 Exposition      Develop-
ment		  Recapit-
ulation		      
 I I-V I vi I I I I
 R1 E1 R2 E2 E3 R4 E4 R5
 A1 solo A1 A1 solo A1 B A1 solo Cadenza A1 solo
 A1 tutti A2 band A1 tutti   C3 C1 tutti   & tutti
 A2 band A1 A3   A2 band  C1 solo    C4 solo
 A3 B (V)  A4 fuga   A3 tutti A3 tutti    C2 tutti
 A4 fuga C3            
 C1 C4            
 C2 C2 tutti            
 1-55   123-167   180 218-250   255-285

 

And yes, the third Ritornello is missing just as the Groves article had suggested. But look at all of those other surprises! First of all, the opening Ritornello is thematically rich in comparison to what we have seen in the Ritornelli of Johann Christian Fischer and Joseph Fiala. Of particular importance is the little band of 2 oboes and 2 horns which play A2, and the fugato A4 which is based on Al. Also, the Al theme is none other than the ritornello of Blonde's famous aria, "Welche Wonne, Welche Lust", found in Mozart's singspiel Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail, which was composed five years after the Oboe Concerto. In the aria, though, the theme is reduced to its bare bones. Clever, that Mozart!

Three more examples of the Rondo-Sonata Form Structure that stand as final movements in oboe concerti are:

Oboe Concerti with Rondo-Sonata Form Finales

Vincenzo Bellini: Concerto in Eb Major (1823)
Ignaz Moscheles: Concertante for Flute and Oboe in F Major (c.1846)
Gordon Jacob: Concerto No. 2 (1956)

The Introduction of Sonata Form as a Suitable Finale in 19th Century Romanticism...

By the year 1800 the Rondo and Theme and Variations structures had served to displace Ritornello Form as the standard for the final movement of the oboe concerto. But shortly thereafter the structure identified with the finale of the symphony would make its appearance as the last movement of the concerto. The complex which began its life as binary form was eventually to be called Sonata Form. Gustave Vogt, considered by many to be the father of the French school of oboe playing, used a Sonata Form structure to end his Deuxieme Concertino. The layout is as follows:

Figure 5: Gustave Vogt: Deuxieme Concertino in F Major (c.1840)
Second Movement: Allegro Moderato

 Exposition   Development Recapitulation  
 vi I b III to i I I
 A tutti B A B C1
 A solo        C2
       C3
         C4 (missing)
 1  63  85  107  118

 

Now, that is an interesting Sonata Form! Vogt's exposition includes contrasting themes A, active, and B calm, but no closing group. The key relationship between A and B seems the reverse of what it should be, I to vi with the vi being the dominant thanks to the 19th Century's interest in the relationship of the third.

The development of A which follows again puts emphasis on the third, and the ensuing recapitulation omits A and goes directly to the B theme, another Romantic trait. Three closing themes for the soloist bring the movement to an end. The tutti C4 appears to be missing in the version edited by Albert J. Andraud.

The ascendancy of Sonata Form as a viable medium in the concerto would continue throughout the 19th Century. Other Oboe concerti ending in this structure are as follows:

Oboe Concerti Utilizing Sonata Form in the Finale

Johann Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda: Concertino, Op. 110 (1844)
August Klughardt: Concertino, Op. 18 (1870)
Marie Comtesse de Grandval: Concerto pour Hautbois (1885)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto (1944)
Richard Strauss: Oboe Concerto (1945)

Actually, the Klughardt finale is really only the recapitulation which was missing in the first movement. Dvorak's Carnival Overture of 1891 is composed in a similar structure.

The first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto for Leon Goossens stands as a wonderful example of Mozart's Rondo-Sonata Form. I have already given an analysis of its structure in my previous article on the oboe concerto. Vaughan Williams marks his third movement: Finale [Scherzo]. The reason for this seeming incongruity is the fact that this movement is a discarded Scherzo from his masterful Symphony No. 5. This Finale is, in fact, the source (measures 8-10: bass and 434-445: oboe) of the motive which permeates the first movement, Rondo Pastorale, and which ends the second movement, Minuet and Musette. And it is one of the most complicated of the sonata form structures with which oboists have to contend.

An analysis of its most wonderful structure follows:

Figure 6: Ralph Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto (1944)
Third Movement: Finale [Scherzo]

 Exposition     Development Recapitulation  
 i=e I=E  I=E i=e I=G I=G
 A1 1 B ostinato C1 (a1 +B) A1 187 B ostinato C2
A2 43 & canon C2 A3 228 & canon C1 (A1 +C2)
A3 67   A2 306    
A4 83     A4 328  
 A5 110     A5 337
 1 117 167 187 349 386

Concluding Remarks...

Again, I would like to state as I did in my first article on the subject of structure, that at this juncture in the history of our art it is of utmost importance that we oboists raise our sights in performance to equal those of our colleagues who are pianists, violinists, and conductors. It is only by moving in the direction of analyzing the structure of the music we play, learning to understand the original instruments for which it was conceived, and using historically-sound performance practices, that we might hope to give better representations in our concerts and recitals of what the composers actually had in mind. Obviously, the memorization of such complex works as the concerti written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Mozart is made much easier by understanding the concepts of structure as delineated in my two articles on concerti. But, more important, it is the interpretation of the oboe soloist's musical line, which will receive the maximum benefits because it will become greatly improved when the performer has gained an understanding of just how this line fits into the texture of each section.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

RECORDINGS ARE DENOTED BY *

PHASE I CONCERTI

Alessandro Marcello (1669-1747):

Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1750):

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741):

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767):

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750):

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759):

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758):

Gottfried Heinrich Stoelzel (1690-1749):

Giovanni Platti (1697-1763):

Jean Marie Leclair (1697-1764):

PHASE II CONCERTI:

Francesco Biscogli:

Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703-1771):

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788):

Johann Stamitz (1717-1757):

Johann Wilhelm Hertel (1727-1789):

PHASE III CONCERTI:

Anonymous (attributed to Haydn):

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809):

Johann Christian Fischer (1733-1800):

Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782):

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799):

Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813):

Carl Stamitz (1745-1801):

Joseph Fiala (1748-1816):

Francesco Antonio Rosetti (1750-1792):

Antonio Salieri (1750-1825):

Ludwig August Lebrun (1752-1790):

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):

Frantisek Vincenc Kramar (1759-1831):

Anonymous (attributed to Mozart as K 279b):

PHASE IV CONCERTI:

Antoine-Joseph Reicha (1770-1836):

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837):

Gustave Vogt (1781-1870):

Anonymous (attributed to von Weber):

Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870):

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848):

Anonymous (attributed to Mozart!):

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835):

Johann Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda (1801-1866):

Wilhelm Bernhard Molique (1802-1869):

Julius Rietz (1812-1877):

Stanislas Verroust (1814-1863):

Marie Comtesse de Grandval (1830-1907):

Antonino Pasculli (1842-1924):

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908):

August Klughardt (1847-1902):

Richard Strauss (1864-1949):

PHASE V CONCERTI:

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958):

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948):

Cyril Scott (1879- ):

Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959):

Gordon Jacob (1895-):