Couplet

What it means

Couplet designates two related things. In rondo form it is the section between two returns of the main theme: the refrain theme is followed by a couplet with new material, then the theme again, then a further couplet, and so on. In song and operetta, couplet means the verse of a strophic song, often with a witty or satirical text, each followed by an unchanging refrain.

Musical use

In both cases the effect rests on the alternation of the familiar and the new. The rondo lives from the refrain returning familiarly while the couplets play around it in changing keys and characters; in the French keyboard music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries this layout is especially pronounced. In the couplet song the verse carries the plot or the punchline, and the refrain gathers it in — a form suited to stage effect and audience participation. Common to both is that the recurring part supports memory and the sections in between supply variety.

Performance practice

Shape the couplets distinctly different in character so that the return of the refrain has an effect; if everything stays the same, the form loses its point. In the rondo, watch the changes of key and clean returns to the theme. In the couplet song, intelligibility of the text comes first; practise fast verses first spoken in rhythm. Keep the refrain stable in tempo and shaping so that it acts as a fixed point, and plan the build-up over the sequence of verses.

Note that in operetta the couplets often carry a punchline whose effect depends on timing: the orchestra must place the closing accent exactly, and the singer needs room before it. Rehearse such passages separately and fix the timing explicitly. In the rondo it helps to distinguish the couplets by their key and to make this change audible. With many verses, plan a build-up over the sequence so that the ending does not seem a mere repetition.