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Leonard Rathner - Eighteenth-Century Theories of Musical Period Structure
Leonard Rathner - Eighteenth-Century Theories of Musical Period Structure
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VOL. XLII, No. 4 OCTOBER, 1956
THE MUSICAL
QUART E RLY
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY THEORIES OF
MUSICAL PERIOD STRUCTURE
By LEONARD G. RATNER
439
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440 The Musical Quarterly
course of the 18th century,reflectingthe increasingpopularityof the
galant style.Many criticalremarksare directedto the contrastor con-
flictbetweenthe galant styleand the strictor seriousstyle.In some cases
the remarksdeal with articulation.Marpurg says:
In thecontrapuntal
style,thefullcadences,at leastat theend of a piece,
mustbe conventional[farmlich]. In the galant style,one makesno ceremony
about cadences,and theycan be used in any place, at the end as well as in
the middle, withoutany distinctionas to their conventionalor non-con-
ventional as circumstances
[function] dictate.'
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 441
Eighteenth-Century
The terminologycommonlyused in 18th-century writingsto desig-
nate various rhythmiccomponentsof structureis not very consistent.
Sulzer writes:
ofa melodyare
The namesusedto indicatethesmallerand largersections
still somewhat indefinite.One speaks of Perioden, Abschnitten,Einschnitten,
Rhythmen, Ciisuren, etc. in such a way thatone word will have two mean-
ingsand twowordswillhavethesamemeaning.3
Ex. I
Simple sentence
subiec ,
--l-- - predicafe
--1
,. ,i
.A b1c
predicate
b. Ekbomtedse-n~t~U
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442 The Musical Quarterly
comparisonsto be reflectionsof 18th-century rationalism,then theories
of period structurewould represent"rationalizing,"at least in one area
of musical thought.
They[theItalians]sawverywellthattheycouldnotinvent a melodyunless
theyheldto a simpleand uniqueidea and gavethisidea properexpression
Thisobservation
in formand proportion. led themto discover themusical
period.A minuet,a giguehave theirdefinite measures;melodiesform
and thesephraseshavetheirregular
phrases, and proportionalelements..
Although our smallFrenchpieces,minuets,gigues,etc. appearto be like
thoseof the Italians,one mustnot assume that theyare periodic.It is not
enoughfora melodyto havea certainnumber of measures. . . Whenthe
a certainunitymustbe present,
of themelodyis to be periodic,
expression
a balancein themembers out of whichthemelodygrows,a rounding-off
ofthemelody, whichholdtheattention to theveryend.MostolderFrench
6
J. G. Portmann, Leichtes Lehrbuch der Harmonie, Darmstadt, 1789, p. 37.
Die Kunst des reinen Satzes, Berlin,1779, II, 43.
SJ. Kirnberger,
8 J. F. Daube, Anleitung zur Erfindungder Melodie, Vienna, 1797, p. 37.
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 443
Eighteenth-Century
melodiesare almostnothingbut rowsof tones,whichhave neitherrule
noraim.9
* *
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444 The Musical Quarterly
lettersto his father,dated May 14, 1778, describedsome of his troubles
in attemptingto teach a younglady of noble rank to compose a minuet.
She filledin quitea goodbassforthefirst
minuet,themelodyof whichI
had givenher,and she has alreadybegunto writein threeparts.Butshe
very soon gets bored . . . She has no ideas whatever. . . Among other
thingsI hiton theidea of writing
downa verysimpleminuet, in orderto
see whether she couldnot composea variation
on it. It was useless. . .
I wrotedownfourbarsof a minuetand said to her: "See whatan ass I
am! I havebeguna minuetand cannotevenfinish themelody.Pleasebe
so kindas to finish
it forme."la
12
Emily Anderson, The Letters of Mozart, London, 1938, II, 796.
13J. A. Hiller, Wachentlichen Nachrichten, Leipzig, 1766, I, 132f.
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 445
Eighteenth-Century
Melodic construction,as used both for didactic and for creative
purposes,drew upon a widespread method, which may be referredto
as "permutation"afterJosephRiepel's term Verwechselungskunst in his
Grundregeln der Tonordnung, Vol. I, published in 1752. This refers
to the possibilityof changingthe motifsin one or more measures of a
phrase or period without disturbingthe basic harmonic and rhythmic
structure.Riepel shows how the melody of the minuet he uses as an
example can undergo several such changes; these re-shape the melody
withoutchangingthe basic formof the minuet.By this method Riepel
hopes to develop the student's taste and judgment with respect to
melodic construction.
Ex. 2
I Addgio
Modfel Allegro
Adagio le
AFnn
Mode P-
(f) P
I ,l-
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446 The Musical Quarterly
versionsof the beginningof a symphonyare given. For all three,the
rhythmicpatternsand the harmoniesare alike; also the changes of style
are identical,fromthe slow introductionto a brilliantallegro,followed
by a lyricmiddle section.The melodic materialforthesethreeexamples,
however,is quite differentin each case. Example 3 shows samples from
each of the three versionsgiven by Daube. He recommendsthe use of
Haydn's symphoniesas models.
Permutationworkswell in the galant style.Well-separatedphrases,
light texture,characteristicfigures,and striking,juxtaposed contrasts
of manner (particularlyin Italian orchestralmusic) - all these lend
themselvesreadily to the substitutionof one typical melodic formula
for another.
An interestingcase of the application of this principleto music of
an earlier age is found in Kirnberger'sMethode Sonaten aus'mnErmel
zu schiiddeln,1783. Kirnbergermay have had his tongue in his cheek
when he put togetherthis littlebrochure,but the resultis a perfectly
serious and broad-scaledlate Baroque sonata. Briefly,his Methode is as
follows:
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 447
Eighteenth-Century
mended that theirstudentslearn various typesof dance music, so that
they might compose sonatas with skill and taste. In Sulzer we find:
"The dance melodies of various nations include almost every kind of
movementand rhythm,and only he who is sufficiently versed in these
can become excellent in melody."'4 Kirnberger,in his Recueil d'airs
de danses caractdristiques,speaks at some lengthregardingthe import-
ance of dance music as a basis for more elaborate composition.Neglect
of dance compositionwill have a detrimentaleffectupon fugue com-
positionowing to lack of trainingin rhythm.Performancealso suffers;
the effectnowadays, he says, is wretched because failure properlyto
indicate the caesuras and accentsturnsfuguesinto mere chaos of sound.
The practice of dance music, on the other hand, will enable the per-
formerto sense the rhythms, accents,and caesuras in a piece of extended
dimensions.
Riepel and Koch both feel that small dance formsare models for
larger compositions.Riepel says: "The working-outof a minuet is no
differentfromthat of a concerto,aria, or symphony."'5Koch is more
explicit: " . . . the knowledgeof these [smaller]formsis usefulto the
beginningcomposernot only foritselfalone, but in considerationof the
largerproductsof the art; because theseforms[dances] are small models
for the larger compositions."'6From these remarks it is clear that
musical theoristsof the later 18th centuryacknowledgedthe debt owed
by their "serious" music to dance music, both fromthe idiomatic and
the structuralstandpoints.
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448 The Musical Quarterly
dominant. Two other documents,one contemporarywith Telemann,
the other dating from the time of Haydn, provide some important
informationon the subject of large-scale musical compositionin the
18th century.The firstof these is ChristianGottliebZiegler'sAnleitung
zur musikalischenComposition,a manuscriptdated 1739 at Quedlin-
burg,whereZieglerwas an organist.This document,apparentlyunique,
and unlistedin the standardbibliographies,existsin an incompletecopy
in the Drexel collectionof the New York Public Library.
Principali C major 1 3 5 9 13 15
Primaria G major 2 6 8 14
Secundaria A minor4 12
Tertiaria E minor7
Peregrinaprima F major 10
Peregrinasecunda D minor11
Ex. 4 SPiri+uoso
3 3
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 449
Eighteenth-Century
The second of the documentsthat enlightenus regardinglarge-scale
musical structureis Heinrich ChristophKoch's Versuch. Like Ziegler,
Koch begins with dance music. He analyzes phrase structureminutely,
beginningwith four-measurephrases and workingup to what he calls
the smallestcompleteforms,those small dances and songs that contain
four times four measures,i.e. sixteen.
Ex. 5 4. Originaleigh-meoure
Poco period
All.ro
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450 The Musical Quarterly
b melody
K,
SsssuppidbyL.R.
d (4
, I I . .
.....
25 (8) trAGor t
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 451
Eighteenth-Century
cadence in the dominant at the eighthmeasure. The extended period,
on the otherhand, coversthirty-twomeasures.There are two key areas,
setting up a long-range contrast between tonic and dominant; this
harmonic plan is universallyemployed in Classic music; it represents
a polarityof harmonyas againstthe circulararrangementof keystypical
of Baroque music.
Specific techniques of extension are illustratedat various points.
In most cases they involve a broader treatmentof the motifsin the
firstexample, although it would certainlybe possibleto go fartherand
introducenew melodic material. Here are the techniques:
1. Similar restatementof a motifon anotherharmony,measures2,
15, 28
2. Reinforcementof a full cadence by varied repetitionof the
cadence formula,measure 4
3. Repetitionof a motif,takinganotherlevel of the same harmony,
measure 7
4. Extensionof a sectionby repeatingestablishedmetricalformulas,
measures 8-9
5. Parenthesis,insertionof new material, measure 12
6. Progression,i.e. sequence, measures 18-21
7. Reinforcementof a half-cadenceby repetition,measure 23
8. Closing section strengthenedby additional cadential formulas,
measure 25
9. Spinningout a rapidlymovingfigure,measure 27
10. Transposition,i.e., modulatingsequence, measures 28-30.
While Koch invented most of his examples, including the above,
he drew liberallyfromthe music of Haydn, Graun, Hiller, Stamitz,and
Koch's own teacher, Christian Scheinpflug,18 as well as from others
who wrote duringthe latterhalf of the 18th century.The resultof his
instructionswould be a sonata of the stylecurrentabout 1760-1780. It is
a galant style,for clavier,with shortmotifs,frequentbut lightcaesuras,
and a considerablevarietyof melodic material. The music of the later
Classic styleis, of course, more broadly gauged than the galant music
Koch is illustrating;still, the mechanics of structureset forthby him
are those that controlled the constructionof melodic material, the
building of phrases,and the distributionof cadences in all of Classic
music.
In 1722-70, Kapellmeister at Rudolstadt.
Very few of his works are extant,
among them some cantatas and an opera, Mithridate. He enjoyed a good reputation
in his time and Marpurg spoke well of him.
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452 The Musical Quarterly
To be sure, Koch did recognizethe difference betweenwhat we call
the Classic styleand the earliergalant style.While most of his analysis
and instructionconcernsclavier and chamber music, he does treat the
orchestralstyleat the veryend of his Versuch,and makes the following
distinctionbetween orchestraland chamber music:
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Theories of Musical Period Structure 453
Eighteenth-Century
remarksto his daughter regardingWolfgang's Piano Concerto in D
minor,K. 466:
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454 The Musical Quarterly
of a master.Nevertheless,
the meritof thisexcellent
workhas not been
in Germany.22
recognized
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