Rondo

Rondo, musical form in which a main theme is repeatedly stated between two contrasting sections. The rondo generally consists of five or seven parts and has a fixed pattern (ABACA or ABACABA). It was frequently used by composers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries as the last movement of a larger work. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Josef Haydn often concluded their symphonies with a rondo section.