# What does it mean when Reprise is in the Title of Sheet Music?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 16, 2016, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314 "2016-01-16T08:10:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/1 "2016-01-16T08:10:52Z")
I see Reprise occasionally in titles of sheet music. I know the dictionary definition is a repeated passage. Every piece of music repeats. š So the dictionary definition means squat to me.
hereās an example on music notes.
[http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0052595](http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0052595)
They sell over eight arrangements of this traditional song. I donāt understand the significance of āRepriseā compared to other arrangements of the song.
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### Author:  [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/2 "2016-01-16T08:41:17Z")
As part of the title I take it to mean that the piece has been revisited - so this isnāt considered to be the original, but a re-interpretation, variation, or similar.
In a single work a reprise is a repeat of an earlier component, but is usually not note for note identical. Usually the earlier part is embellished, simplified, reworked, or becomes the basis for improvisation.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/3 "2016-01-16T08:50:48Z")
thank you Francis Vaughan. Thatās what I needed to know.
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### Author:  [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/4 "2016-01-16T10:31:00Z")
I donāt know about this specific example, but in general, a reprise means the song is being repeated/varied within a larger work. So in a musical you may have a song sung in act 1, and then it is repeated in act 2 for dramatic effect. Or on an album, a song will appear earlier on the record, and then will be repeated later. Usually, there is some sort of variation in the repeat.
For example, on the Bleachers album Strange Desire, they have a song āWild Heartā opening the album and then later vary it in āWild Heart Repriseā.
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### Author:  [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/5 "2016-01-16T10:38:20Z")
Missed the edit window - in the wiki article on the subject thereās oodles of other examples from albums and musicals if youāre interested in exploring more examples.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/6 "2016-01-16T12:47:02Z")
I have seen reprise used in musicals. The program the theatre gives out lists them. I hadnāt thought about the performance changing after it repeats. Iāll look for that the next time I attend a musicalā¦
I see at the end of the Wiki they say, see cover version. So reprise and cover are similar too. The song I was looking at is a cover of a traditional irish hymn.
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### Author:  [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/7 "2016-01-16T15:26:26Z")
Iāve never heard ācoverā used as a synonym for ārepriseā and Iām not sure why the wiki article would refer to cover version in the see also section. But youāll note it does define a cover version there as āa new version of a song originated by a different artistā. Thatās not what a reprise is at all.
OK, had a chance to look into the specific piece of sheet music you linked to. Itās from Michael Cardās Starkindler: A Celtic Conversation Across Time. It looks like the disc opens with āBe Now My Visionā and closes with āBe Now My Vision (Reprise)ā. So that is consistent with the idea of repeating and (probably) varying the same piece later on the album.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/8 "2016-01-16T15:34:01Z")
**Moderator Action**
Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/9 "2016-01-16T15:50:25Z")
The most famous example in pop culture comes from the Beatles. \* Sgt. Pepperās Lonely Hearts Club Band\* starts with the title song on side 1. On side 2, the fifth song is āSgt. Pepperās Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise),ā a shorter version that leads into āA Day in the Life.ā
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/10 "2016-01-16T16:05:50Z")
> [@D18](#):
>
> Iāve never heard ācoverā used as a synonym for ārepriseā and Iām not sure why the wiki article would refer to cover version in the see also section. But youāll note it does define a cover version there as āa new version of a song originated by a different artistā. Thatās not what a reprise is at all.
>
> OK, had a chance to look into the specific piece of sheet music you linked to. Itās from Michael Cardās Starkindler: A Celtic Conversation Across Time. It looks like the disc opens with āBe Now My Visionā and closes with āBe Now My Vision (Reprise)ā. So that is consistent with the idea of repeating and (probably) varying the same piece later on the album.
ah, that makes sense.
Only music notes would confuse everything by only offering Michael Cardās reprise version of that song. They donāt sell the sheet music for his other arrangement of Be Thou My Vision.
Iām glad that I asked and got this cleared up. Reprise was a term I sort of understood but really didnāt. Now I know. š Iāll subscribe to this thread and keep as a reference.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-reprise-is-in-the-title-of-sheet-music/743314/11 "2016-01-16T21:05:41Z")
Itās primarily used in musicals, when a song is sung more than once. Another example is āOneā from **A Chorus Line**. Sometimes the reprise has different lyrics.
The Beatles also reprised āYou Never Give Me Your Moneyā in āCarry that Weight,ā though they didnāt call it that.