Arch form

In

It creates interest through interplay among "memory, variation, and progression". Though the form appears to be static and to deny progress, the pairs of movements create an "undirectional process" with the center, and the form "actually engenders specific expressive possibilities that would otherwise be unavailable for the work as a whole".^[1]

Béla Bartók is noted for his use of arch form, e.g., in his fourth and fifth string quartets, Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, second piano concerto, and, to a lesser extent, in his second violin concerto.^[1] Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 in C minor also use arch form.

The most popular arch-form structure is ABCBA.

See also

• Chiastic structure
• ABACABA pattern
• Sonata rondo form

References

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