Da capo sin' al segno ed allora la Coda

[pjones235]

I know what this means in Italian, but I can't tell what it means in music. It's in Beethoven's Bagatelle in D Major, Op. 119, No. 3. Does it mean to go back to the beginning, play to the sign, then play from the coda to the end?

[sbeckmesser]

Yes, that's what it means in the Beethoven. There's still some controversy whether you should also take the "structural" repeats when you are taking a da capo, as you have here and in other Classical-period minuets and similar dances. My prejudice is to take the repeats unless directed by the composer to do otherwise. The scherzo of Beethoven's 7th Symph seems to play on your expectation of these repeats in its pseudo "da capo."

--Sixtus

[pjones235]

Oh, Beethoven! Hmmm... I'll follow that.
Thanks!