Perpetuum mobile Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

This article is about a musical term. See Perpetual motion for machines.

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Perpetuum mobile (Latin) and moto perpetuo (Italian), both literally meaning "perpetual motion", are terms applied to pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo.

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

This figuration of rapid triplet quavers continues for the duration of the movement.

Other examples include 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.

Perpetuum mobile is also a genre of separate musical compositions, which 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:

• Nicolň Paganini's Moto perpetuo Op. 11 (N° 6) for violin (most often performed with a rather insignificant "obligato" accompaniment);
• Felix Mendelssohn's Perpetuum mobile, opus 119, for piano;
• Johann Strauss II's Perpetuum Mobile: musikalischer Scherz for orchestra;
• The Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

20th century examples of the "Perpetuum Mobile" genre:

• Arvo Pärt's orchestral Perpetuum mobile (1963).
• The string piece of music used by the British ABC Weekend Television to announce the start of its broadcasting hours.

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. Canonss 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 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.

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