Cyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple parts or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and end (for example, in the Brahms Symphony No. 3); other times a theme occurs in a different guise in every part (Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique). Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of classical music. ... Johannes Brahms Symphony No. ... Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie Fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Requiem of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony) is a symphony written by Hector Berlioz in 1830. ...

Examples can be found throughout music history. The Renaissance cyclic mass, which incorporates a usually well-known portion of plainsong as a cantus firmus in each of its sections, is an early use of this principle of unity in a multiple-section form. Examples can also be found in seventeenth century instrumental music, for instance in the suites of dances by Samuel Scheidt in which a ground bass recurs in each movement. When the movements are short enough and begin to be heard as a single entity rather than many, the boundaries begin to blur between cyclic form and variation form. Renaissance music is classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1450 to 1600. ... Broadly speaking, plainsong is the name given to the body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. ... In music, cantus firmus is the basic material to be set using polyphony. ... Samuel Scheidt (baptized November 3, 1587 – March 24, 1653) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. ... In music, a ground bass is a bass part that repeats continually, while the melody and harmony over it change. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...

Typically the term applies to music of the nineteenth century and later, though, most famously including the Cesar Franck Symphony in D Minor, the Symphonie Fantastique, and numerous works by Franz Liszt. By late in the century, cyclic form had become an extremely common principle of construction, most likely because the increasing length and complexity of multiple-movement works demanded a unifying method stronger than mere key relation. C sar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (December 10, 1822–November 8, 1890) was a composer and organist. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer. ...

The term is more debatable in cases where the resemblance is less clear, particularly in the works of Beethoven, who used very basic fragments. The argument over whether the occurrence of the triplet figure in the third movement of the Beethoven Symphony No. 5 is an example of cyclic form has had significant proponents on both sides. Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 – March 26, 1827) was a German composer of Classical music, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No. ...