This is our final post presenting “How to listen to great music” videos by Dave Hurwitz, which gave us also the opportunity of introducing some of Edvard Grieg’s music. In this 4th video, he introduces musical form, which is made of repetitions and variations.

0:00 Presenting the last movement of Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt suite for our active listening exercises: Anitra’s dance. Grieg uses only strings and a triangle. Focus on the melody in listening.

2:57 listen to Anitra’s dance (3:25 minutes)

6:20 We heard a melodic archetype, a shape, a musical form called AABA.

8:10 Breaking down the AABA form: listen to A section (short)

9:15 listen to the second half of the melody, the B section (longer) and return to the A section

10:40 the AABA form is extremely common in music, including in pop music, so it is a great introduction to the concept of form. Form is made of repetitions, and variations. Dave elaborates…

14:40 Listen to other examples of AABA form: Minuet from Haydn’ symphony #88

16:40 Listen to the 4th movement from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (AABA)

18:10 Listen to the 2nd movement from Dvorak’s New World Symphony (AABA)

20:40 The music can express anything, but the shape (or form) is a common principle used by many composers

22:35 flashback listening to “in the hall of the mountain king” which was also composed following the AABA form. Re-emphasis on repetition and variation.

25:00 listen to Anitra’s dance again, now that we know how to recognize the AABA form.

28:25 Dave presents his next video, which we will not share here. We hope you enjoyed Dave Hurwitz’s educational work as much as we do at UP CLOSE AND CLASSICAL.

Thanks for reading, Hervé