Perpetuum mobile

This article is about a musical term. Please see perpetual motion for the physical concept, Perpetuum Mobile (album) for the album, and perpetual motion (disambiguation) for other uses.

Perpetuum mobile (Latin), moto perpetuo (Italian), mouvement perpétuel (French), literally meaning "perpetual motion", means two distinct things:

1. pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo
2. whole pieces, or large parts of pieces, which are to be played repeatedly, often an indefinite number of times.

As a technique

A well-known example is the presto finale of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2:

This figuration of rapid triplet quavers (eighth notes) continues for the duration of the movement.

Other examples include the finale of Beethoven's Tempest and Appassionata piano sonata, the second of Franz Schubert's Impromptus, D. 899, the finale of Carl Maria von Weber's Piano Sonata No. 1, the final movement of Maurice Ravel's Sonata for violin and piano and the finale of Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra.

As separate compositions

As a separate piece, a "Perpetuum Mobile" can be defined as a composition where (a large part of) the piece is intended to be repeated an (often not specified) number of times, without the "motion" of the melody being halted when a repeat begins. Canons are often intended to be performed in a moto perpetuo fashion (which, in that case, can be called canon perpetuus). In some cases the repeats of a "perpetuum mobile" piece are at a different pitch (while a modulation or a chord progression occurs during the repeatable part): some of the riddle canons of Bach's Das Musikalische Opfer are examples of this particular kind of Perpetuum Mobile/Canon Perpetuus.

Nineteenth century examples

Perpetuum mobile as a genre of separate musical compositions, was at the height of its popularity by the end of the 19th century. Such pieces would often be performed as virtuoso encores, in some cases increasing the tempo along the repeats. Such "perpetuum mobile" pieces include:

• Felix Mendelssohn's Perpetuum mobile, opus 119, for piano.
• Ottokar Novacek's Perpetuum Mobile, for violin and piano.
• Nicolò Paganini's Moto perpetuo Op. 11 (N° 6) for violin. most often performed with a rather insignificant obbligato accompaniment; when scored for wind instruments it becomes a virtuoso challenge of circular breathing and double-tonguing.
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumblebee.
• Johann Strauss II's Perpetuum Mobile: musikalischer Scherz for orchestra.

In the twentieth century

Twentieth century examples of the "Perpetuum Mobile" genre include:

• "Mouvement", a 1905 piano composition by Claude Debussy
• The last movement of the violin sonata by Maurice Ravel
• Trois Mouvements perpétuels, a 1918 piano composition by Francis Poulenc.
• The end of the opera Wozzeck, Act III Scene 5, by Alban Berg (1914-1924)
• The last movement of the Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber (1939)
• Arvo Pärt's orchestral Perpetuum mobile (1963).
• "Perpetuum Mobile for pedals alone" a showpiece for Organ by Wilhelm Middleschulte
• John Coolidge Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986).
• The string piece of music used by the British ABC Weekend Television to announce the start of its broadcasting hours.
• The album of the German avant garde group Einstürzende Neubauten Perpetuum Mobile contains some examples of the perpetuum mobile concept as well.
• 'Fracture,' composed by guitarist Robert Fripp, is a modern moto perpetuo piece based on the whole-tone scale.
• 'Perpetuum Mobile' by Penguin Cafe Orchestra (1987)