What is the most convoluted standard musical form?
In musical composition, we tend to reuse sections of a piece in patterns that are referred to as "musical forms". Some basic examples of these that I know of are ABA, AABA, ABAB, and the rondo form ABACAB'A. While I recently became interested in finding out about more varying musical forms, the only one I was able to find that somewhat matches what I'm looking for is the Sonata Rondo form's infinitely varying ABACADAEA... pattern.
In short, what I would like to discover (if any exist at all):
1. A musical form containing a large number of variations.
2. Ideally the musical form should have a set end, rather than formulaic variance into infinity like the sonata rondo.
With that said, are there any musical forms that meet both of these requirements and contain more variations than the Rondo form?
The short and sweet answer is yes. This structure is famous for creating constancy and a theme. The main reason this method to compose was conceived was to eliminate erratic style change which did work for a while until music evolved and started straying slowly away from the Rondo form. The best example of moving away from the Rondo form is fusion jazz. This style of music is more complex and is also has very different approach to music, but you have to consider that repetition legitimizes. Which is the sad reality of music.
