16c – Transitions & Retransitions

Both terms refer to unstable passages that get you from one closed section of a form to another (think non-organic forms like TERNARY and RONDO).

The general rule of thumb is

TRANSITION = transitional music that takes you away from the home area.

RETRANSITION = transitional music that takes you back home.

Here’s a video that shows how this phenomenon applies. There is a score below of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 18/2 (Scherzo movt.) that you can download and analyze in advance of watching!