Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom

In a rounded binary form, the material at the beginning of the first section returns, often shortened, after a contrasting phrase at the beginning of the second section. A generic phrase diagram of rounded binary form is shown below.

Below is an example of a rounded binary form.

Because both the first section (the A section) and second section (the B section) repeat in the example above, this form would be called “two-reprise continuous rounded binary form.”

Another example of a rounded binary form is below.

This form of the example above would be called “two-reprise continuous rounded binary form” because:

Rounded binary form is often encountered in compositions during the Classical era (1750–1825) in music by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, especially as the form of a theme from a theme and variations, and as the minuet and/or trio section in a Minuet and Trio.