Perpetuum mobile

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

pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo
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 finales of Beethoven's 22nd piano sonata, as well as large segments of the finales of his Tempest and Appassionata sonatas, 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.^{[citation needed]}The second movement of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

Examples

"Perpetuum mobile" pieces of both kinds include:

Nineteenth century

Nineteenth century examples of the "Perpetuum Mobile" genre 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.
Robert Schumann's Hasche-Mann from Kinderszenen.

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)
The last movement of Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra (1943)
Arvo Pärt's orchestral Perpetuum mobile (1963).
"Perpetuum Mobile for pedals alone" a showpiece for Organ by Wilhelm Middelschulte
John Coolidge Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986).
'Perpetuum Mobile' by Penguin Cafe Orchestra (1987)
'Equus' by Eric Whitacre (2000)
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' is a modern moto perpetuo piece based on the whole-tone scale composed by guitarist Robert Fripp.
Prelude no. 2 in A minor from 24 Preludes and Fugues by Dmitri Shostakovich