rondeau

A French Baroque form built on the alternation of a recurring refrain (the rondeau theme) and contrasting couplets. The refrain is always in the home key; couplets may modulate. Unlike the Classical rondo (ABACADA), the French Baroque rondeau can have any number of couplets between refrain statements, and the refrain is always repeated complete. Couperin uses the rondeau frequently throughout the ordres — most famously in Les baricades mistérieuses (Ordre 6) and Sœur Monique (Ordre 18).

In a rondeau, the refrain must be recognisable as home — not just as a repeated passage, but as a return. Each couplet should offer genuine contrast in character, register, or harmony, so that the refrain returns feel like arrivals. In a hypnotic rondeau like Les baricades mistérieuses, the repetition IS the effect — resist any temptation to vary the refrain on each return.