Part 9 (2/2)

[Footnote 91: For an extended account of this development see the second chapter, Vol II, of _The Art of Music_ (The National Society of Music, NY) See also Chapter XIX of Pratt's _History of Music_]

The other marked characteristic of the Sonata-Form is the _second_ part which is known as the Development Section; for, as we shall soon explain, the structure as a whole is tripartite In this portion of the movement the composer has an opportunity to i one theme or both as already presented Dry and labored development sections may, of course, be found in certain Sonatas and Syreat works of such masters as Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikowsky and d'Indy the develop part of the h a musical excursion; every device of rhythe and polyphonic i employed to enhance the beauty of the theoing further, it is well to point out a confusion which often arises between the terms Sonata and Sonata-Form When we speak of Sonata-_Form_ we mean invariably the structural treatment as to nule_ movement within a series[92] By the terenerally in three or four _, First Movement, Slow Movement, Minuet or Scherzo and Finale; of which, in most examples of the classic school, the First Movement--and often the last--were in Sonata-Form

An alternative nainning with Beethoven, however, coreat freedom in the application of the Sonata-Form We find Sonatas of Beethoven, notably the set op 31, in which every movement (even the Scherzo) is in Sonata Form or a modification thereof; on the other hand, there are cole _, Beethoven's Twelfth Sonata, op 26 These coe instrumental works For a sy-Quartet a coeneral type--for four solo instruroup of ensemble compositions: Sonatas for Violin (or any solo-instrument) and Pianoforte; Trios, often for unusual co_, Brahms's _Trio for Violin, Horn and Pianoforte_; Quintets and even Septets--in all of which the distinction must be made between the terard to number of movements or the moods expressed therein The classic Sonata, Syenerally contained three or four orous in nature--a summons to attention--cast in sonata-foranically treated, and requiring from the listener concentrated attention The secondrelief after the tension of the preceding reat depth of eic import The third ht, humorous side of life; and the Finale, joyful and optily the sense of finality--would close the ith a general feeling of satisfaction It was Beethoven who first modified these principles to suit his own poetic needs Thus we find some of his Sonatas with only two movements; some have three, some have four One of Schumann's Symphonies contains five movements and Rubinstein's _Ocean Symphony_ seven! When we reach the modern school, we shall see further freedom as to number, order and type of movements

[Footnote 92: The form is also sometimes used independently, as in Brahms's _Rhapsody in G minor_ and often, of course, in the Overture]

[Footnote 93: _Ie_, 1st Violin, 2d Violin, Viola and Violoncello]

We are now prepared to sum up the essential characteristics of the Sonata-Form; for there is no structure in which it is more i easily, naturally and with a minimum of friction The Sonata-Form is the instrumental form ”par excellence”--the Gothic Cathedral[94] of music--and has retained its place, not because of any slavish regard for form as such, but because it has been worked out, perfected and utilized by the greatest of the co, _ie_, presenting material worthy of consideration, which allows this row and realize its inherent possibilities and then su, objective close; which, furtherreat principle of Duality, _ie_, reveals _two_ u The Sonata-Form--often, to be sure, with free e instrumental compositions of the Classic, Romantic and Modern Composers, notably of such men as Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Cesar Franck, Tchaikowsky, d'Indy and Sibelius Anyone unable readily to followthe coe of the ical to expect to enjoy the beauties of architecture without perceiving the difference between a nave and a bowling-alley The obvious way to understand theof the principles of structure and expression in that language Music is in very truth a language; and far toosave the appeal which co experience is ie, but there are no reasons, save apathy and indifference, why the hearer should not have all this and more too There is no conflict betarent, well-trained o hand in hand; and in any complete artistic appreciation each is indispensable[95]

[Footnote 94: See the eloquent coy by d'Indy in his _Course in Composition_, Vol II, Chap 5]

[Footnote 95: ”Art is not more a riot of the passions than it is a debauch of the senses; it contains, no doubt, sensuous and emotional elements, the importance of which there is no need to undervalue, but it is only artistic if it subordinate them to the paramount claims of reason” WH Hadow, _Studies in Modern Music_ (second series), preface]

The three main divisions of the Sonata-For: (1) the Exposition, in which two themes in different tonalities are announced for the consideration--and, as the composer hopes, the pleasure--of the hearer In the works of Haydn and Mozart this contrast of key was invariably that of Tonic and Do_, C _, A-flat reat e_, C major and E major or C major and A-flat e has largely superseded the for_, Brahms's _Third Symphony_

We thus see that the harmonic feature of the Exposition is _Duality_ of Key-relationshi+p Between these two e Passage which, in the tienerally of a very perfunctory, stereotyped character Wagner once sarcastically remarked that Haydn's transitions reminded him of the clatter of dishes between courses at a royal feast In Mozart we find the bridge-passage anically connected hat precedes and follows; but it was Beethoven who, in this portion of the hout his works the bridge-passage is never aabout until the introduction of the second theme, but is so conceived that the interest of the hearer is increasingly aroused until, at the entrance of the second thee-passage of this kind often has a subsidiary theme of its own, or even several melodic phrases, and is planned as carefully as the action by which a dramatist leads up to the entrance of his heroine After the second the theme to round out the Exposition as a whole This practice dates from Haydn and has been lorious climactic effect in Cesar Franck's _Sy themes in the Expositions of the first movements For many years it was the invariable custom to repeat the Exposition, and in Classic Symphonies ays find a double bar with s This practice was not an integral part of the for over the theently their growth in the Develop of the Exposition has been largely abandoned; for there is no doubt that to begin all over again, when a certain objective point has been reached, breaks the continuous flow of the movement[98]

[Footnote 96: Some composers have also experimented with still freer key-relationshi+ps]

[Footnote 97: For striking examples see the Expositions of the first movements of Beethoven's _Third Symphony_ and of Tchaikowsky's _Sixth Symphony_]

[Footnote 98: The ultra-conservative attitude of Brahms is shown by his retention of the double bar and repeat, although this is often ignored by modern conductors]

(2) The Development, for which the Germans have the happy naiving rein to his i as he holds the interest of his hearers and neither becoes in mere mechanical manipulation There are, alas! developments in which the composer exhausts his themes and his hearers too;[99] but on work of this kind, since it is not real developlery, no powder need be wasted Beethoven began the practice, in his Develop hi an entirely new theme, whenever the le ood development is the freedoenius of the creator; the effect being Plurality of Key-relationshi+p, in distinction from the two closely related keys of the Exposition It would often seeh mountains or borne away to distant seas For illustrations of this ”free phantasy” note the end of the Development in the first reat stress has been laid in the Exposition on the two basic keys of D major and A major, we are left in the distant tonality of C-sharp e, into the ho studies in the workings of a great mind is to observe how Beethoven, in his developments, allows the excitement to subside and yet never entirely die out, and how deftly he leads the hearer onward to the su up of the main themes of the exposition

[Footnote 99: It was probably a development of this kind which called forth the characteristic comment from Debussy who once re to develop”]

(3) The Recapitulation or Resume, in which both the themes of the Exposition are reasserted, each in the ho laid on _Unity_ of Tonality The bridge-passage has to be correspondingly changed, for now the modulation is between two themes _both_ in the _same key_ To achieve such a modulation is quite a ”tour de force” as every reat Beethoven The skill by which he alwaysFor a case of ”acade of water--in this adjustment of key relationshi+p, see the Recapitulation of the first movement of Brahms's Second Symphony To secure unbroken continuity and to avoid vain repetitions[100] there is no portion of the Sonata-Forenius of modern composers and by the tendency exemplified in the Syeneral validity of Restatement, as shown in the Recapitulation of the Sonata-Form, cannot be questioned; for that depends, as so often pointed out, upon the hu contrast, soiven pleasure Furthery in our own life: with its early years of striving, itsyears of cli structural treatment in the denoument of a drama In the classic composers, the Recapitulation is alh Beethoven began to be freer, _eg_, in the climax of the Coriolanus overture, where he modifies the form to meet the dramatic needs of the subject[101] Modern composers, however, have felt that much of this repetition was superfluous; and when they do repeat both themes, one or the other is freely varied and made still more eloquent For examples, see the resume of the first movements of Franck's _Symphony_, of Brahms's _First Symphony_ and of Tchaikowsky's _Sixth_ The Recapitulation is often abridged by o exclusively on the second; as for example, in the Finale of Schulia's Overture, _Le Baruffe Chiozzotte_[102]

[Footnote 100: See Gretry's a comments on the Sonata-Form cited by Romain Rolland in the essays _Musicians of Forner's comments on the _Third Leonora Overture_, cited by Ernest Newman in his _Musical Studies_, pp

134-135]

[Footnote 102: Additional illustrations of this treatment may be found in Chabrier's Overture to _Gwendoline_ and in the firstQuartet_]

It re and end of the Sonata-Form With Haydn it became the custom, not necessarily invariable, to introduce the body of the ht texture and import--often aof arms In Mozart we find some examples of ic Flute_ and in the prelude to the Cdissonances But in this case, as in so many others, it was Beethoven who first shohat a Prelude should be: a subtlethe interest and expectancy of the hearer; the effect as carefully planned as the portico leading to a temple To usher in the the manner every means of modulation and rhyth the introductions to the first movements of the Second, Fourth and Seventh symphonies; and, in modern literature, those of the first movements of Brahms's _First Symphony_ and of Tchaikowsky's _Fifth_ It also beca the end of theoperative that is found in the peroration to a speech or in the spire of a cathedral, _ie_, the human instinct to end whatever we attempt as impressively and completely as possible

This Coda, which, in Haydn and Mozart, was often a o--was so expanded by Beethoven that it was the real glory of the whole movement In fact so many eloquent treatments of the main material were reserved for the Coda that it often became a _second_ development; and such was its scope that the form may be considered to have _four_ parts instead of three, _ie_, 1, Exposition, 2, Develop each other in the same way as 3 and 1 For two of the most famous examples in all Beethoven literature see the Codas to the First hth_

We now present a tabular view of the Sonata-For up the features just commented upon

THE SONATA-FORM OR FIRST-MOVEMENT FORM