ABSTRACT
Reflecting on the subtle art of forging in the fine art of music, I will not initiate a theoretical discussion or present an exemplary case study. Instead I will point a spotlight on a variety of individual cases and draw some hopefully illuminating conclusions. To avoid the impression that my narrative will be a potpourri only, that is, according to the Concise Harvard Dictionary of Music, a sequence of tunes from various repertories “which are played in succession connected by a few measures of introduction or modulation,” I will try to make what I propose to present more or less coherent. Thus I will follow the subtitle of a work by Richard Strauss: “Nach alter Schelmenweise in Rondeauform” (after the old rogue’s tale, in the form of a rondeau). That is, I will “perform” a piece with 3 ritornellos, 2 episodes, and a more substantial middle section. Here, then, is my little Rondo burlesco sopra aliqui soggetti depravati.
