quotation

In music, the use of short passages in musical works taken from other music by the same composer or by another.

Examples of auto-quotations include:

Brahms, Regenlied in finale of G major violin sonata;

Elgar, a number of themes from earlier works in The Music Makers; demons' chorus from The Dream of Gerontius in The Fourth of August (as a theme for the enemy);

Mozart, ‘Non più andrai’ from Figaro in second-act finale of Don Giovanni;

Prokofiev, March from The Love for Three Oranges in ballet Cinderella;

Puccini, ‘Mimi’ theme from La Bohème in Il tabarro;

Rimsky-Korsakov, theme from Pskovitianka (Ivan the Terrible) in The Tsar's Bride (referring to Ivan);

Saint-Saëns, theme from Danse macabre in Fossils section of Le Carnaval des animaux;

Schumann, opening of Papillons, Op. 1, in Florestan piece in Carnaval, Op. 9;

Shostakovich, themes from tenth symphony and first cello concerto in eighth string quartet (1960);

Smetana, theme associated with the Vyšehrad citadel of Prague in the first symphonic poem of Má Vlast and referring to in the later one entitled Vltava;

Strauss, theme from Guntram in ‘Childhood’ section of Tod und Verklärung; a number of themes from earlier works in the ‘Hero's Works’ section of Heldenleben and in the dinner music in the Bourgeois Gentilhomme incidental music; Ariadne auf Náxos in Capriccio; transfiguration theme from Tod und Verklärung in Im Abendrot (‘Last Songs’);

Vaughan Williams, theme from Hugh the Drover in violin concerto;

Wagner, two themes from Tristan in Meistersinger, III. i; swan motive from Lohengrin in Parsifal, I; themes from Siegfried in Siegfried Idyll (some going back to a projected string quartet);

Wolf, song, ‘In dem Schatten meiner Locken’ from Spanish Song-Book in opera Der Corregidor, I.

Examples of quotations from a different composer's work include:

Bartók, Nazi march theme from Shostakovich's seventh symphony in Concerto for Orchestra;

Beethoven's ‘Song of Thanksgiving’ in the third piano concerto (both composers had just recovered from illness);

Bax, theme from Wagner's Tristan in symphonic poem Tintagel; passage from Elgar's violin concerto, in G major string quartet dedicated to Elgar;

Beethoven, ‘Notte e giorno faticar’ from Mozart's Don Giovanni in Variations on a theme by Diabelli, Op. 120;

Berg, themes from Wagner's Tristan and Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony in Lyric Suite for string quartet; Bach chorale Es ist genug in violin concerto;

Berio, scherzo from Mahler's second symphony and other items in Sinfonia;

Brahms, ‘Batti, batti’ from Mozart's Don Giovanni in song Liebe und Frühling, Op. 3 no. 2;

Bréville, ‘Tarnhelm’ motive from Wagner's Ring in Portraits de Maîtres for piano, indicating a transformation between the pieces imitating various composers;

Britten, theme from Wagner's Tristan in Albert Herring;

Chabrier, Serenade from Mozart's Don Giovanni in song Ballade des gros dindons;

Charpentier, theme from Wagner's Ring in Louise, II;

Chopin, air from Rossini's Gazza ladra in Polonaise in B minor dedicated to Kolberg (1826);

Debussy, theme from Wagner's Tristan in Golliwogg's Cake-Walk (Children's Corner);

Elgar, theme from Mendelssohn's overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage in ‘Enigma’ Variations (Romance); Chopin's G minor nocturne and Paderewski's Polish Fantasy for piano and orchestra in symphonic prelude Polonia;

Falla, opening motive from Beethoven's fifth symphony (‘Fate knocking at the door’) in ballet The Three-cornered Hat;

Fibich, various themes from Mozart's Don Giovanni in opera Hedy (based on Byron's Don Juan);

Křenek, Mendelssohn's Spring Song in incidental music for Goethe's Triumph der Empfindsamkeit;

Mahler, theme from Charpentier's Louise and Hunding's motive from Wagner's Ring in the first movement of the ninth symphony; prelude to scene 3 of Boris Godunov in Der Einsame im Herbst (Das Lied von der Erde);

Mozart, tunes from Martín y Soler's Una cosa rara and Sarti's Fra due litiganti in second act finale of Don Giovanni;

Mussorgsky, Handel's ‘See the conquering hero’ and themes by Famitsin and from Serov's opera Rogenda in satirical song The Peep-Show; sea motive from Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko in song The Classicist;

Offenbach, ‘Notte e giorno faticar’ from Mozart's Don Giovanni in Tales of Hoffmann, prologue; ‘Che farò’ from Christoph Willibald von Gluck's Orfeo in Orphée aux enfers;

Rimsky-Korsakov, themes from Mozart's Requiem in opera Mozart and Salieri;

Saint-Saëns, themes from overture to Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers in Tortoises section of Le Carnaval des animaux (because Orpheus's lute was made of tortoise-shell), also Berlioz's Dans des Sylphes in Elephants and a phrase from Rossini's Barber of Seville in Fossils in the same work;

Schumann, theme from Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte in Carnaval, Op. 9 (written while Schumann was separated from Clara Wieck); aria from Heinrich Marschner's Der Templer und die Jüdin in finale of Etudes symphoniques, Op. 13;

Shostakovich, overture from Rossini's William Tell and the fate motif from Wagner's Ring, in the 15th symphony;

Strauss, Denza's song Funiculi, funiculá in symphony Aus Musicien (under the impression that it was an Italian folk song); giants' motive in Wagner's Ring in Feuersnot; Wagner's Rhinemaidens' theme in dinner music (salmon) of Strauss's Bourgeois gentilhomme (Ariadne, first version); themes by Bull, Legrenzi, Monteverdi and Peerson in Die schweigsame Frau; fragment from funeral march in Beethoven's ‘Eroica’ symphony in Metamorphosen for strings;

Stravinsky, waltz by Lanner (played on a barrel-organ) in ballet Petrushka; themes from Tchaikovsky's piano music and songs in ballet The Fairy's Kiss/Le Baiser de la fée;

Tchaikovsky, song from Grétry's Richard, Cœur de Lion in The Queen of Spades;

Vaughan Williams, opening theme from Debussy's L'Après-midi d'un faune in incidental music for Aristophanes' Wasps;

Wagner, Di tanti palpiti, from Rossini's Tancredi, parodied in the tailor's episode in Meistersinger, III.

Walton, two themes from Rossini's William Tell overture in Facade (Swiss Yodelling Song); theme from Rossini's Tancredi overture in Scapino overture.

Also numerous examples of quotations from earlier works in the music of contemporary composers – Kagel, Holloway, and Stockhausen (Beethausen, Op. 1970, von Stockhoven).