Musical development
In
European classical music,
musical development is a process by which a musical
idea is communicated in the course of a
composition. It refers to the
transformation and re
statement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical
variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end.
Development is carried out upon portions of material treated in many
different presentations and combinations at a time, while
variation depends upon
one type of presentation at a time (DeLone et. al. (Eds.), 1975, chap. 1).
In this process, certain
germ ideas which are repeated in different contexts or in altered form so that the mind of the listener consciously or unconsciously compares the various incarnations of these ideas. Listeners may apprehend a "tension between expected and real results" (see
irony), which is one "element of surprise" in music. This practice has its roots in
counterpoint, where a theme or subject might create an initial impression of a pleasing or affective sort, but would go on to further delight the mind as its contrapuntal capabilities are gradually unveiled.
The
musical form which traditionally exploits development to the fullest is the
sonata form. In this form there is a section after the
exposition and before the
recapitulation which is called the
development section, where material from the exposition section is developed. In some older texts the development section of a sonata may be referred to as "free fantasia."
*DeLone et. al. (Eds.) (1975).
Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0130493465
