rondo

[ ron-doh, ron-doh ]

noun

, Music.

, plural ron·dos.

1. a work or movement, often the last movement of a sonata, having one principal subject that is stated at least three times in the same key and to which return is made after the introduction of each subordinate theme.

rondo

/ ˈrɒndəʊ /

noun

1. a piece of music in which a refrain is repeated between episodes: often constitutes the form of the last movement of a sonata or concerto

Word History and Origins

Origin of rondo¹

1790–1800; < Italian < French rondeau; rondel

Word History and Origins

Origin of rondo¹

C18: from Italian, from French rondeau

Example Sentences

The music, like the story, became more openly emotional; for every cunning rondo, there was a doleful largo.

From New York Times

The passage is over before you know it, whisked back to a spirited rondo, but it epitomizes the piece’s — and its composer’s — mixing of the jovial and aching.

From New York Times

A bulldozer of a scherzo intensified what was a lingering menace, and the fourth movement rondo released it from its cage.

From Washington Post

By the end, Mozart’s rondo has found its way to major-key joy, and the girls have, too, sitting arm in arm as their father sprays himself in the face with a hose.

From New York Times

It is unsophisticated, employs no big forms and no big architectural structures, and it uses small sequence forms, ostinato and rondo.

From Literature