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

CHAPTER X.

Chapter 273,585 wordsPublic domain

THE SLOW MOVEMENT.

I. VARIETIES OF FORM.

In the classical sonata the usual arrangement of movements was as follows: (1) Allegro (in "Sonata-form"): (2) Adagio or Minuet: (3) Finale (usually a rondo).

Occasionally--as in Mozart's Piano Sonata in A-major--the slow movement, in the form of a theme and variations, was placed at the beginning, and in that case the order would be (1) Theme and Variations, (2) Minuet (3) Finale. The symphony, which, it must be remembered, was a sonata on a large scale--always began with a movement in sonata-form, and had four movements. Although the sonata was subject to many outside influences--most important of which were polyphony and the old overture and other operatic forms--its two main sources were dance tunes and folk-songs. The evolution of the dance tune through Bach's polyphonic gavottes, sarabandes, etc., has already been traced in Chapters IV, V, and VI, and the influence of the dance on the first movement in Chapters VIII and IX.

The slow movement is ultimately derived from the folk-song, and, while more subject to operatic influence than were the other movements, it still retains something of that simple lyric quality that distinguished it in its primitive form. Unlike the other movements of the sonata and symphony, however, the slow movement has no settled form: _i. e._, while we speak of first-movement, or sonata-form, of the rondo form, and of the minuet form, we do not speak thus of "slow movement form." For in the slow movement style rather than form is of greatest importance. On account of its slow tempo it is shorter than the first movement, and consequently not so dependent for intelligibility on formal structure. Its themes, also, are song-like in character, and song themes, being in themselves complete, do not lend themselves readily to development--do not generate new material--as has already been pointed out. As a consequence the slow movement is usually written in what we call a "sectional" form: _i. e._, a series of sections following one another according to whatever order or system the composer may choose. The most common use is, however, the form employed in the minuet. But in slow movements the long song themes, somewhat elegiac in style and full of sentiment, make the _mood_ of each section of supreme importance, and throw the formal element into the background. So that, while the slow movement usually falls under some one of the common forms already discussed, it often modifies them in one way or another.

There are rare instances of developed ternary form in the slow movements of Mozart's pianoforte sonatas. The Andante of the Sonata in B-flat (no. 10 in Schirmer's edition), has a development section. It comprises only nineteen measures, however, and its effect as a section germinating from the exposition is somewhat lessened by the scheme of repeats, which is as follows: A :⎜⎜: B. A. :⎜⎜. The use of rondo form in the slow movement will be discussed in a later chapter.

II. SLOW MOVEMENTS OF PIANOFORTE SONATAS.

Reference has already been made in Chapters VI and VII to the lack of sustaining power in the tone of the pianoforte of Haydn and Mozart's day, and the consequent use of ornament in their pianoforte music. In Figure XLI (_a_) is shown the beginning of the andante of Mozart's sonata referred to above, and at (_b_) will be found the corresponding portion of the restatement in the same movement. These two quotations should be compared with the corresponding portions of the two pieces that serve as examples for analysis with this chapter. This comparison will reveal how much more highly ornamented was the music written for the piano than that for instruments with sustained tone.

[Music: score] (_a_)

[Music: score] (_b_)

FIGURE XLI.

It will be observed that this quotation from Mozart is in strophic form; each phrase of two measures constitutes, as it were, a poetic line, the second of which closes with a half cadence, and the last with a full cadence or period. In this respect it follows the old folk-song type, and, indeed, that model serves for the great majority of lyric themes in sonatas and symphonies. But in its initial qualities this melody shows a great advance over tunes like "Barbara Alien" and "Polly Oliver," an advance due to the flexibility to which both melody and harmony had attained in Mozart's time, and to that freedom of technique provided by the piano as compared with the voice.

These quotations from Mozart are from a sonata movement which is, on the whole, above the formal average of the pianoforte pieces of that period. Many of them were excessively ornamented. In Figure XLII are shown two quotations from a sonata of Haydn, in the latter of which the ornaments are profuse.

[Music: score] (_a_)

[Music: score] (_b_)

FIGURE XLII.

In spite of the somewhat artificial atmosphere that surrounds much of the pianoforte music of this period there is, in the best specimens of it, a charming formal beauty. It is within its own sphere genuine and true to life. One has to consider the kind of society that it represents, as well as the status of music in that society. The art was not, at that time, free enough, nor practical enough, to deal with deep emotions; people looked on it as a refined sort of amusement. Not until Beethoven had written his music did its possibilities as a vehicle for deep human feeling and experience become evident.

III. THE STRING QUARTET.

It was not until the time of Haydn that the string quartet[31] came into being; a fact for which we may easily account by examining the instrumental parts of orchestral compositions before Haydn's time. We shall find the 'cello, for example, playing for the most part merely the bass notes that support the superstructure of the orchestra, and consequently entirely unaccustomed to individual parts of any difficulty. Another obstacle in the path of the string quartet was the slow development of the viola, which only gradually emerged from the older and more cumbersome types, such as the viola d'amour and viola da braccio. Haydn began by writing little quartets of the simplest possible kind--the first movement of the first quartet contains only twenty-four measures--but by constant practice throughout his long life he attained a complete mastery of the form. In his early quartets he usually wrote five movements, two of them minuets, but he soon settled on the regular four movement form which has remained ever since as the usually accepted model.

EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 15.

_Haydn: Adagio in E-flat major from the String Quartet_[32] _in G-major, op. 77, No. 1._

This Adagio is thoroughly characteristic of Haydn's best style of writing. It is without the elaborate and somewhat diffuse treatment we observed in the trio of his "Andante with Variations" (See Chapter VII), nor does it depend for its effect on the much more artistic use of ornament employed by Mozart in the Andante quoted in Figure XLI. Almost everything in this composition germinates from the two motives given out in measures 1-2 and 3-4, and it should be noted that each of these motives is sufficiently pronounced in character to serve the purposes of generation, and that the theme, as a whole, is not by any means a perfect lyric melody such as will be found in our second example for analysis.

[Music: score] FIGURE XLIII.

The first of these motives (see Figure XLIII, measures 1-2) is easily traced throughout the whole composition, since the changes that are made in it are largely changes in key, but the second motive (measures 3-4) almost immediately evolves into something new. This may be observed in measure 11, where the rhythm of the passage at measure 3 is changed, the melody being given to the left hand. The second part (or stanza) of the melody, beginning at measure 13, uses chiefly the phrase from measure 2, which will be found again in the dominant--to which key this section tends--at measures 21-22. Even the passage at 23 is an elaboration of that at 11, and this same original motive is lengthened into a delightful bit of by-play at measures 35-37. The close in C-major at 42, with its accents transferred to the fourth beat of the measure, should be noted, while the sudden change of key after the pause was, at that time, almost a revolutionary modulation, and sounds more like Beethoven than Haydn (see, for example, the sudden and complete change of key in the coda of the first movement of the "Eroica" Symphony). The use of the motive from measure 2 at 45-54 and the gradual elimination of its melodic quality until only its rhythm remains (53-54) is an interesting example of a familiar process in music (see Chapter VIII). This gradual dying away and ceasing of motion is also a familiar process at this point in a movement, providing as it does a sense of expectancy and preparation for the re-entrance of the main theme. The restatement begins at measure 55 and as is customary retains the original key instead of modulating to the dominant as did the first section. The coda begins at 82 and, according to Haydn's usual plan, presents a kind of reminiscence of the main subject, as if in tender farewell.

IV. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

While this movement does not reach the heights of lyric beauty attained by Mozart in the Andante which we shall analyze in a moment, it is, nevertheless, a thoroughly interesting and really beautiful piece of music. Our attention is constantly enlisted by fresh glimpses of the theme, or by new harmonies; the ornamentation all grows naturally out of the structure and is not laid on for its own sake, and the melody itself is expressive and tender. Furthermore, the themes and their treatment are characterized by a perfect adaptability to the string quartet, for even in the pianoforte version, we can observe how interesting is the part given to each instrument. Here, just as in a perfect story or a perfect poem, there is nothing redundant, nothing that has not some part in the main purpose of the work. And this combination of placid beauty with perfection of form makes what is called the "Classic" in music. Especially do we find here an entire absence of those perfunctory passages that occur in the movement of the "Surprise" Symphony discussed in the last chapter.

Taken as a whole, this piece is immeasurably finer than any movement of its kind produced up to that time, save alone those of Mozart; and the advance is not only in method but in the essence of the idea itself. There is a geniality and warmth about this music that marks a new era. Bach was more profound, but more isolated; here we have simple human sentiment and a kind of naïve charm that distinguished Haydn's music from that of all other composers.

V. FORM OF HAYDN'S ADAGIO.

This Adagio of Haydn is a good illustration of what we have called "sectional form." It may be tabulated as follows:

TABULAR VIEW OF SECTIONS IN HAYDN'S ADAGIO.

Section four contains practically the same material as Sections 1 and 2, with its last half in the tonic instead of the dominant. It will be observed that the harmonic plan of the movement is that of "sonata-form," but that the first two sections (which would constitute the exposition) are not repeated, as was the invariable custom in Haydn's first movements. Yet the resemblance is quite close, for the third part is like a development section and the fourth like a restatement. Still there is not here that decided difference between the three sections of exposition, development, and recapitulation that is essential to sonata-form.

VI. MOZART AND THE CLASSIC STYLE.

The slow movements of the symphonies and string quartets of Mozart, who represents the culmination of the classic type in music, are thoroughly characteristic of the ideals of the classical period. Unlike the rustic Haydn, Mozart was accustomed from his childhood to the atmosphere of courts and lived in the favor of princes. His music is never brusque, nor does it have the homely wit and sentiment of Haydn--it does not smack of the soil--but it possesses a certain ideal beauty and elegance, a certain finesse and finely pointed wit that were beyond Haydn's powers. Yet these ideally beautiful compositions of Mozart are absolutely spontaneous. We are never admitted into his work-shop; we never trace a sign of his labor; his music seems to have sprung full born from his brain. He is the type of the consummate artist who deals with the language of music as easily as an ordinary mortal deals with his native tongue. He was not a philosopher like Bach, nor a great man like Beethoven. We find no evidences of his having been, outside his music, particularly distinguished from his fellows, for his improvidence and fondness for amusement are matters of record. When we think of Beethoven's music we think of Beethoven; Mozart and his art are distinct and separate.[33]

At this point the question naturally arises: "Just what do we mean by classic beauty?" In a general way a book, a picture or a piece of music becomes a "classic" when it is universally accepted as a model of its kind. In this sense Grey's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" is a classic; so are Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the Sistine Madonna, and the Apollo Belvedere. The same term is applied to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and to Schumann's "Träumerei." These works of art represent many varieties of mood, of style, and of structure, and the application to them all of the term "classic" is a very broad usage. "Classic," as opposed to "Romantic," in music, means something quite different and much more definite. It refers to purity of outline and simplicity of harmony; to pure beauty of sound as opposed to luxuriance or the poignancy produced by dissonances; to clear and translucent colors and definite lines curved in beauty, rather than to picturesqueness. Classical music tells its story clearly and definitely and does not depend on suggestion, as does, for example, the romantic music of Schumann.

Our illustrations from Haydn have revealed how this classic spirit gradually approached its culmination. In his Andante with Variations there is something of the classic spirit, though the occasional diffuse ornamentation of the trio theme mars the purity of the composition. In the movement from the "Surprise" Symphony there is too much that is rustic to admit of its being considered altogether classic. But a fine example of the classic type is afforded by the first movement of Mozart's G-minor Symphony, discussed in Chapter IX. The distinction may be made still more clear by reference to Figure XLIV, containing (a) the opening phrases of the Finale of Tschaikowsky's "Pathétique" Symphony, and (b) a short quotation from Schumann's Novelette, op. 21, No. 1.

[Music: score] (_a_)

[Music: score] (_b_)

FIGURE XLIV.

The poignancy of the passage from Tschaikowsky is remarkable, and the opening chord, modulating at once to another key than the tonic, produces a feeling of unrest which is further intensified, as the piece proceeds, by harsh dissonances. The quotation from Schumann's Novelette is notable for its brusqueness, and for the roughness of its dissonances. Effects like these would not have been tolerated in Mozart's time, and illustrate the tendency of music to become more personal and to seek to express a wider range of human feeling. A comparison of these two quotations with the opening of the andante by Mozart will reveal how far apart are the ideals of classic and romantic music.

EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 16.

_Mozart: Andante from String Quartet_[34] _in C-major, dedicated to Haydn._

In Chapter IX reference has been made to the influence of Haydn and Mozart on each other. Mozart undoubtedly profited by Haydn's labors in the quartet form, and Haydn, in turn, shows in his latest quartets that he had learned something from his younger contemporary. Ever since this form came into being it has been a favorite one with composers, for in it they are able to express musical ideas in all their purity and divested of extraneous influences. For this reason the quartet became the medium for their most advanced ideas. Both Mozart and Beethoven wrote quartets that were far in advance of their time, and that were subjected to harsh criticism by their contemporaries. The introduction to the quartet from which this andante is taken is a case in point. The harmonies, within the space of a few measures, wander far from the home key, and commit what were then unpardonable sins of cacophony. A brief quotation from the beginning of this introduction is shown in Figure XLV. The harsh dissonances between the A-flat in the first measure of the viola part and the succeeding A-natural in the first violin part should be noted.

[Music: score] (_a_)

[Music: score] (_b_)

FIGURE XLV.

The vague harmonies of this introduction serve as an admirable foil to the bright opening of the first movement. The æsthetic purpose they serve is one of which Beethoven also made constant use when he desired to enhance the charm of a passage by vivid contrast of color. The opening theme of the movement (shown at (b) in Figure XLV) will be seen to be foreshadowed in the introduction (Figure XLV (a); viola part, measure 3, first violin part, measures 4-5). From the point of view of both harmony and thematic development this introduction is therefore extremely modern.

[Music: score] FIGURE XLVI.

Of this andante by Mozart we can say unreservedly that it is a perfect specimen of pure classic beauty. Its translucent harmonies, its exquisite curve of melody, its clear outlines, all make it a model of its kind. The chief theme, extending to measure 12 (see Figure XLVI), should be compared with those of Handel, Haydn and Mozart shown in previous chapters. This comparison will reveal an important element in the present theme, namely, the element of organization. In our earliest musical examples quoted in the first two chapters there was a conspicuous lack of variety. "Three Blind Mice" contented itself with two motives, which were repeated over and over again. "Barbara Allen" was made up of one rhythmic figure, constantly reiterated, and even in the themes of Philip Emanuel Bach and Haydn there were many rhythmic repetitions. In the Haydn quartet movement there were but two motives, and while they were used with the greatest skill, the theme itself was entirely constructed from them. In Mozart's theme, on the contrary, there is hardly a single repetition of rhythm. An examination of the melody will reveal how great a variety is imparted to it by the many different rhythmic figures. Yet there is no sense of vagueness about it; it holds together firmly. This quality distinguishes all highly organized melodies, and is never found in folk-music. The same element may be observed in a developed language in which words have come to be flexible in their meaning, and more or less complicated sentences are possible. In this theme one does not get the sense of what the composer is trying to say until the melody ends; in simple themes, made up by repeating the same motive, one can foresee the end long before it is reached. Themes like this beautiful one of Mozart are possible only after art has become well developed, and after people in general have become sufficiently familiar with the phraseology of music to be able to follow complicated musical sentences.

A further charm is added to this movement by the free and flowing counterpoint of the several parts. This is an essential element in the string quartet, since without it, there being little variety in the tone of the four instruments, monotony would result.

VII. FORM OF MOZART'S ANDANTE.

Here, as in the Haydn slow movement, we find another example of sectional form. It may be tabulated as follows:

TABULAR VIEW OF SECTIONS IN MOZART'S ANDANTE.

I. | II. --------------------------------------+----------------------------------- Modulating from tonic to dominant | Modulating from dominant back to and containing theme I, episode theme | tonic with the same succession of (13) and theme II (26), 1-44. | themes. Coda (102), 54-114. --------------------------------------+-----------------------------------

The sub-divisions of the above should be carefully noted (as indicated by the entrance of the different themes). These sub-divisions break the piece up into smaller sections, each distinct from the others. A particularly interesting and beautiful effect is produced in the coda (measures 103-5) by the augmentation of the phrase from measures 1-2, which is reproduced in longer notes against a familiar counterpoint.[35]

SUGGESTIONS FOR COLLATERAL READING.

_C. H. H. Parry: "The Evolution of the Art of Music," Chapters XI and XII. W. H. Hadow: "Sonata Form," Chapter X. D. G. Mason: "Beethoven and His Forerunners," Chapters V and VI._

FOOTNOTES:

[31] The instruments employed in the string quartet are two violins (first and second) viola, and violoncello.

[32] Published in miniature score, Payne edition, price 20 cents. This quartet also appears among Haydn's works in the form of a sonata for violin and piano.

[33] See Mason's "Beethoven and his Forerunners," pages 232-240.

[34] Published in miniature score, Payne edition, price 20 cents.

[35] A reference to the full score of this movement will reveal certain crossings of the lower instruments over the upper by which interesting effects of tone color are produced.