orm answers to the simplest requirements of unity and
contrast. Frequent examples of the Rondo are found in all early
instrumental composers: Bach, _e.g._, the charming one in C minor in
his third Partita; Couperin, Rameau, Haydn and Mozart. It is found
also in vocal works, _e.g._, Purcell's well-known song "I Attempt from
Love's Sickness to Fly." From the standpoint of modern taste, however,
Beethoven was--with few exceptions--the first to treat the form with
real genius; and so our illustrations are taken chiefly from his
works and from those of his successors. Although there need be no
arbitrary limit to the alternation of the chief part with the
subsidiary portions--in fact, Beethoven's humorous _Rondo Capriccio,
On a Lost Farthing_ has as many as _eleven_ sections--it gradually
became conventional for the form to consist of _five parts_: a first
presentation and two repetitions of the main theme together with two
contrasting portions called _Episodes_, to which a free Coda was often
added. The form would then be A, b, A', c, A'', Coda--A' and A''
indicating that the repetition need not be _literal_, but often varied
rhythmically and harmonically; not, however, so as to obliterate the
original outline. For in a well-constructed Rondo the main theme must
be one of such direct appeal that we _look forward_ to hearing it
_again_; and the successive repetitions must be so planned that we can
easily enjoy this pleasure of reminiscence. It also became customary
not to block off the sections with rigid cadences but often to insert
modulatory passages, thus securing a continuous flow of thought. This
practise we see particularly in Beethoven and Schumann. The form which
we are discussing is the so-called Older Rondo Form, clearly derived
from the dance described above. Beginning[78] with Beethoven, however,
we find numerous examples of a different kind of rondo treatment which
developed in connection with the Sonata Form--to be explained later.
The Rondo-Sonata Form, as it is generally called, is in fact a hybrid
type, with certain features derived from rondo structure and certain
from the pure sonata form. The Finales to Beethoven's Sonatas, when
entitled Rondos, are--with few exceptions--of this Rondo-Sonata type.
An excellent example, which should be well known, is the Finale of the
Sonata Pathetique. Although there are many cases of _free_ treatment
of the rondo principle, they are all based on one or the other of
these