A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Coda

by Hubert Parry

CODA. Coda is the Italian for a tail, and that which goes by the name in music is very fairly expressed by it. For it is that part which comes at the end of a movement or piece of any kind, and has to a certain extent an independent existence and object, and though not always absolutely necessary cannot often be easily dispensed with. The earliest idea of a musical coda was probably a few simple chords with a cadence which served to give a decent finish to the mechanical puzzles over which so much ingenuity was wont to be expended in old days. For instance when a number of parts or voices were made to imitate or follow one another according to rigorous rules it would often occur that as long as the rules were observed a musical conclusion could not be arrived at. Indeed sometimes such things were constructed in a manner which enabled the piece to go on for ever if the singers were so minded, each following the other in a circle. In order to come to a conclusion a few chords would be constructed apart from these rigorous rules, and so the coda was arrived at. Applied to modern instrumental music this came to be a passage of optional dimensions which was introduced after the regular set order of a movement was concluded. For instance, in a series of variations, each several variation would only offer the same kind of conclusion as that in the first theme, though in a different form; and in the very nature of things it would not be aesthetically advisable for such conclusion to be very strongly marked, because in that case each several variation would have too much the character of a complete set piece to admit of their together forming a satisfactorily continuous piece of music. Therefore it is reasonable when all the variations are over to add a passage of sufficient importance to represent the conclusion of the whole set instead of one of the separate component parts. So it is common to find a fugue, or a finale or other passage at the end which, though generally having some connection in materials with what goes before, is not of such rigorous dependence on the theme as the variations themselves.

Similarly in the other forms of instrumental composition there is a certain set order of subjects which must be gone through for the movement to be complete, and after that is over it is at the option of the composer to enlarge the conclusion independently into a coda. When the sections of a complete movement are very strongly marked by double bars the word is frequently written, as in the case of Minuet and Trio, and the corresponding form of Scherzos, which are mostly constructed of a part which may be called A, followed by a part which may be called B, which in its turn is followed by a repetition of the part A; and this is all that is absolutely necessary. But beyond this it is common to add an independent part which is called the coda, which serves to make the whole more complete. In instrumental forms which are less obviously definite in their construction, the coda is not distinguished by name, though easy to be distinguished in fact. For instance, in a rondo, which is constructed of the frequent repetition of a theme interspersed with episodes, when the theme has been reproduced the number of times the composer desires, the coda naturally follows and completes the whole. The form of a first movement is more involved, but here again the necessary end according to rule may be distinguished when the materials of the first part have been repeated in the latter part of the second, generally coming to a close; and here again the coda follows according to the option of the composer.

In modern music the coda has been developed into a matter of very considerable interest and importance. Till Beethoven's time it was generally rather unmeaning and frivolous. Mozart occasionally refers to his subjects, and does sometimes write a great coda, as in the last movement of his Symphony in C, known as the 'Jupiter,' but most often merely runs about with no other ostensible object than to make the conclusion effectively brilliant. The independent and original mind of Beethoven seems to have seized upon this last part of a movement as most suitable to display the marvellous fertility of his fancy, and not unfrequently the coda became in his hands one of the most important and interesting parts of the whole movement, as in the first movement of the 'Adieux' Sonata, op. 8l, the last movement of the quartet in E♭, op. 127, and the first movement of the Eroica Symphony. Occasionally he goes so far as to introduce a new feature into the coda, as in the last movement of the violin and pianoforte sonata in F major, but it is especially noticeable in him that the coda ceases to be merely 'business' and becomes part of the sesthetical plan and intention of the whole movement, with a definite purpose and a relevancy to all that has gone before. Modern composers have followed in his steps, and it is rare now to hear a movement in which the coda does not introduce some points of independent interest, variety of modulation and new treatment of the themes of the movement being alike resorted to to keep up the interest till the last.

[ C. H. H. P. ]