Movement (music)

For a group of composers in the same style, see Composition school.

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena."

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

— Benward & Saker (2009), Music in Theory and Practice: Volume II

Classical forms

As with concertos and symphonies, many chamber works use these forms. These chamber pieces are typically named after the ensemble for which they are written: string quartet, piano trio, wind quintet, etc. As with symphonies, numerous exceptions to the standard scheme exist: for example Beethoven's String Quartet op. 131 is in seven movements played without any breaks.

See also

• Slow movement (music)