Overall, "Rituel" is structured like an arch, beginning with only one of the groups playing, and leading up to a "tutti", followed by the coda, in which the forces are gradually reduced to two groups. (Jameux referred to the work as "a Boulezian "Farewell" Symphony.) At the same time, the percussion instruments gradually assume a more prominent role. In an interview, Boulez described the form of the piece as "in general very simple: it is the form refrain-couplet-refrain-couplet until the middle of the work. After, the percussion becomes denser. The percussion, 'utilitarian' in the first part, becomes the most interesting part in the second." In an essay published in 2004, Boulez elaborated on this aspect of the piece: