The Appreciation of Music - Vol. 1 (of 3)

by Thomas Whitney Surette; Daniel Gregory Mason

Main Divisions.	Themes.	Measures.
Exposition (A)		1-100
comprising	First theme	1-27
	Transition, on a subsidiary theme	28-42
	Second theme, in relative major key	44-72
Duality of Harmony	Conclusion theme, built on first theme	72-88
	Cadence formulas emphasizing the key of B-flat	88-99
	Modulation	100.
Development Section, or Free Fantasia (B)		101-165
	Modulation continued	101-103
	First theme in various keys	104-115
Plurality of Harmony	First theme, alternating between bass and treble, with contrapuntal treatment of the transition theme in "diminution."	115-134
	Cadence in dominant of original key emphasized	135-138
	Rhythm of First theme variously used	139-165
Recapitulation (A)		165-293
	First theme	165-191
Unity of Harmony	Transition, on subsidiary theme	191-225
	Second theme, in G-minor (tonic)	227-260
	Conclusion theme, First theme	260-275
	Cadences-formulas, emphasizing G-minor	275-285
Coda	On First theme	286-299

There is no slow introduction, as in Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony, but there is a short coda. A little detailed comparison with the Haydn movement will prove interesting. There is none of the rather meaningless passage work which Haydn uses in his transition from the first to the second theme; instead there is a subsidiary theme (measures 28-42) which in spite of its secondary formal importance is vigorous, strongly characterized music. Instead of an entirely new theme for conclusion (Haydn, 81-93) we find an adaptation of the characteristic rhythm of the first theme (72-88) fulfilling the function of conclusion theme—to emphasize the close of the first section of the movement—by harping constantly on the tonic and dominant chords. This adaptation of familiar matter to a new purpose is ingenious. The return to the first theme, after the development section, is beautifully managed. Over a held D in the bass, beginning at measure 160, the upper voices weave a gradually descending passage out of the motive of the first theme (three notes only). There is a slight retarding, a sense of decreasing momentum, until, with the unobtrusive entrance of the theme in measure 165, a new start is taken, and the recapitulation goes merrily onward. The apparently unpremeditated nature of this entrance (though of course it was carefully planned) is charming.

In the recapitulation, the subsidiary theme which first appeared at 28-42, enters at 191, and is made the subject of a considerable episode. It appears in the bass at 198. Note the sequence at 202-203, and 204-205. The second theme, on its second appearance (227), is not only put in the tonic key of G, but is changed from major to minor. This gives rise to an interesting change in its expression. Instead of being merely tender and ingenuous, as its first and major form was, it takes on now a certain air of mystery and of resignation or controlled pathos. The conclusion theme (260) is also now put into the minor mode. The coda is short, and contains first a final suggestion of the main subject of the movement, and the necessary cadences for closing it firmly in the home key.

III. MOZART'S ARTISTIC SKILL.

This movement affords a remarkable example of Mozart's power to infuse endless variety into the details of his work, without ever impairing its coherence and fundamental unity. He shows here, in short, that remarkable fecundity of imagination, constantly subordinated to the demands of clearness and musical logic, which gives all his music a fascinating variety that never degenerates into miscellaneousness.

For convenience in analysis, we may briefly examine first the elements of variety and later the underlying unity (though it should be remembered throughout that in the work itself the two qualities are intertwined, so to speak, and affect us co-operatively). Thus in the capital matter of rhythm, for example, the real master of construction always takes care to maintain the unity of the fundamental meter with which he starts out, and builds up a variety of rhythms on this uniform basis by making different themes group the elementary beats in different ways: as Mozart, in this movement, keeps his measure of four quarter-notes throughout, but makes the rhythm of his first theme out of quarters and eighths, and that of his second theme largely out of dotted halves and quarters. An actual change of measure in a new theme, such as we find in many modern composers, is often a sign of deficient mental concentration, a kind of incoherence in which variety is secured at the expense of unity. The true masters drive their unity and their variety, so to speak, abreast.

Note then in the first place, the contrasts between the three chief themes of the movement, viz.: the first theme, the subsidiary theme that does duty in the transition (28-42), and the second theme. Their rhythmic diversity may be noted at a glance in the following comparative table, in which the rhythm only of four measures of each theme is set down.

First.

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