Seconda Volta
The second ending, taken only on the repeat after skipping the first
Related
The second ending (seconda volta) is taken only on the second pass through a repeated section, marked "2." with a bracket. On the first pass the repeat sign at the end of the first ending sends the player back; on the second pass the player skips that ending, enters the second one directly, and continues.
Its shape often signals a change of direction. The first ending tends to send the music back to the start, while the second sends it onward into the next section; in sonata form the two may even sit in different keys. Read them as a pair of forks, not as two optional supplements.
A common mistake is to assume the second ending copies the first. It is often a newly written close, with different harmony and melody.
Sources
- 第二结尾与反复记号的配合，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Repeat"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.