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Hoots : Is there a specific name for music that sounds like it has no rests? Example: Prelude no. 2 from Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier”. That piece sounds like it has no rests. It’s a constant flow of music the entire time. - freshhoot.com

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Is there a specific name for music that sounds like it has no rests?
Example: Prelude no. 2 from Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier”.

That piece sounds like it has no rests. It’s a constant flow of music the entire time. I love pieces like that. I want to know if there’s a specific name for pieces like that. I want to find sheet music for pieces like that.

However, the piece mentioned above is way out of my league. To get an idea of how well I can play the piano, the hardest piece I’ve learned is “Aria in D Minor” by Scarlatti.


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I think you have a slight misconception of how a feeling of rest is given in music. Yes, baroque music did have the tendency to just go on but that does not mean it could not have places of rest.

The effect of rest or pause can be given by just the use of a longer note value. If you have a piece in 3/4 time and it is mostly quavers and crotchet the use of a minim note will also give the effect of a rest.

So even if a piece has a "...a constant flow of music the entire time." that does not entirely mean it has no moments where a pause is present.

There is the issue of suspense also. If there is no gradually slowing down of music then the effect of a cadence is lost. There is a natural tendency to have a build up of tension as your phrases near its end and then a release of tension when the leading tone resolve in the new phrase.

If there is mono tempo then it is not really possible to build and release this tension but as I say rest are not the only way to give this effect.

PS to the mods I realise that this answer is more to answer the misconception that the OP may have. The only reason why I did not comment is because of length.


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Moto Perpetuo or Perpetuum mobile. Per the Wikipedia:

literally meaning "perpetual motion", has two distinct meanings: pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo, or whole pieces, or large parts of pieces, which are to be played repeatedly, often an indefinite number of times.


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