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exposition

exposition

1 7.9
The part of a piece where the main musical ideas are first played
  • noun
  • /ˌɛkspəˈzɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : exposición
  • The first book was published in 1848, and its complete title is The Planetary and Stellar Worlds: A Popular Exposition of the Great Discoveries and Theories of Modern Astronomy.

Examples

  • In sonata form, the exposition introduces the main themes of the composition.

  • For the purposes of this study, I selected to use the exposition of the first movement.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The first act is called Exposition.

    Shakespeare School Year (2018)

  • So that's our exposition because each of the voices, Alto, soprano and bass has come in and presented the subject.

  • The ethos of place brought about the musical outpouring of a deep spiritual experience, and this musical exposition tied the inner spiritual place to the outer physical place.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The conductor emphasized the importance of the exposition during the first movement of the symphony.

  • During the exposition, the piano and strings presented the central melodies uniquely.

Surface Forms

exposition singular
expositions plural

Morphology

exposition = expose (semi-transparent) = ex + pose + ion + ition

Built from 'ex' + 'pose' with a noun-forming suffix; the musical meaning is a specialized extension (presentation of main themes) that may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Exposition comes from Latin parts ex- 'out' and ponere 'to put', and it shares the same root as expose. In music an exposition is where the composer 'puts out' the main themes for the first time, so listeners meet the main ideas early on.