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Notions of symmetry, balance, and proportion have appeared prominently in the discourse on sonata form since its origin in the eighteenth century. One clear but insufficiently studied symmetry in sonata forms concerns the relationship of the length of the recapitulation to that of its referential exposition. Many recapitulations make symmetry-altering thematic transformations, but forms that make more than one such alteration tend, overwhelmingly, to make them in opposite "directions," i.e. they feature both enlargement and abridgement. This article is concerned with a relatively small set of sonata recapitulations that deliberately disavow the drive toward exposition-recapitulation symmetry. The "imbalanced" (Smyth 1990) or "lopsided" (Daverio 1993) forms under consideration satisfy two criteria: first, they feature multiple discrete sets of thematic alterations, all of which adjust the length of the recapitulation vis-à-vis its referential exposition in the same direction via either expansion or contraction; and second, they feature no thematic alterations that perform the opposite "operation." This article refers to such recapitulations as "mono-operational." Its primary goals are to outline the mono-operational strategy's formal properties and to excavate its dramatic implications from the corpus of Schubert's and Beethoven's piano works. Detailed analyses are given of the first movements of the "Pastoral" Sonata, Op. 28, and the "Grand Duo," D. 812. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on my 2004 article "The Classical Cadence: Conceptions and Misconceptions," this article examines the fate of the classical cadence in the hands of the first generation of Romantic composers (Schubert, Chopin, Schumann). It identifies seven characteristics of Romantic compositional style that, compared to classical practice, bear on issues of cadential morphology and function: (1) a more extensive use of chromaticism and dissonance; (2) a greater emphasis on root-position harmonies; (3) a more uniform harmonic rhythm and harmonic density; (4) a circularity of formal organization; (5) an ambiguity between sequential and cadential harmonies; (6) a lack of cadential closure for thematic units; and (7) an ambiguity between penultimate and ultimate dominants at points of potential cadence. Though I focus largely on cadence and closure, I also take the opportunity of pointing out other aspects of musical form that distinguish Romantic practice from the earlier classical style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Schubert's distinctive handling of the period theme-type, focusing on a particular kind of period that appears often in his Lieder: the idyllic period. Schubert's idyllic periods are characterized by their symmetry, diatonicism, transparent voice-leading structure, simple piano texture, and association with poems about nostalgia and hopefulness. I analyze three representative idyllic periods in Schubert's late songs: "Am Meer" (looking not only at the song itself, but also at its relation to the other Heine Lieder from Schwanengesang), "So lasst mich scheinen" and "Am Fenster." Collectively, these analyses reveal the diverse but related expressive connotations of this theme-type in Schubert's music. Moreover, they suggest that Schubert's musical evocations of naïveté and innocence demand as much scrutiny as his most radical experiments with tonality and form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reexamines two common views of Schubert's three-key expositions: one that contends the third key is presented in the context of thematic formal function, another that asserts this section's function is non-thematic. Considering texture as an important determinant of formal function, these two views are assessed using a computational model of texture. Applying this model to a corpus of two-key expositions from the late eighteenth century, I demonstrate that certain textures tend to be associated with thematic function more than others. This model is then used to determine the presence of thematic and non-thematic textures in three of Schubert's three-key expositions and the extent to which the two views of the formal function of the third key make sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the center of this study is a desire to understand better the distinct temporal quality expressed in the first movement of Schubert's late G-Major Quartet, D. 887. This movement famously amalgamates sonata and variation impulses, a feature that has informed readings of its structure as retrospective, concerned with memory and reminiscence (Dahlhaus 1986; Frisch 2000; and Burnham 2000). Taking its cue from Dieter Schnebel's 1972 study of time in Schubert's music, this article posits that the first movement of D. 887 (abbreviated hereafter as D. 887/i) displays an array of diverse temporal perspectives that are, at base, functions of recognizable formal devices. Distinct temporalities are revealed analytically via an extended adaptation of William E. Caplin's theory of formal functions. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates that the musical syntax of the movement's grouping structures functions simultaneously on different formal levels and displays what I term "form-functional multiplicity" in the first and second expositional groups as well as a double tonal/thematic trajectory in the development section. Considered in tandem, these hold implications for the articulation of time in the movement as a whole. Ultimately, by uncovering the precise mechanisms behind the temporal vibrancy of this movement, this study illuminates the interaction between Schubert's idiosyncratic formal practices and his music's manipulation of musical time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces uniform patterns, voice-leading patterns that are purely regular when represented with generic intervals. Generic intervals are continuous-valued intervals that are converted to real intervals through quantization. Various kinds of chromatic and diatonic sequences are uniform patterns. Uniform patterns provide a way of precisely and quantitatively comparing different kinds of chromatic patterns to diatonic ones by drawing upon the kind of robust, continuous metrics associated with voice-leading spaces. The possibility of deriving chromatic and diatonic logics from common principles suggests a new perspective on the "integration" problem of nineteenth-century harmony--the question of whether chromaticism represents a radical break or an evolution from conventional tonal harmony. The theory of uniform patterns and generic intervals is applied in analysis of the first movement of Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 and other passages from Schubert and Liszt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do composers respond to the sounds of language when they set words to music? What prompts them to elongate a particular vowel in a melodic line, to emphasize an especially expressive consonant, to highlight or exaggerate the purely sonic elements of a poem? Inspired by a recent article by the eminent literary critic M. H. Abrams called "The Fourth Dimension of a Poem," which focuses on the physical sensation of reading poems aloud, this article explores the diverse ways that song composers musicalize the different speech-sounds, or phonemes, of poetry for expressive effect. Case studies include Schubert's "Nacht und Träume" and Britten's "The Little Old Table," from Winter Words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arpeggione soloist Nicolas Deletaille has collaborated with pianist Alain Roudier and composer René Mogensen in a project with the intent of reinventing the musical thinking for the arpeggione, in the context of contemporary computer music. For this project, Mogensen composed two new works for arpeggione and computer, which brought together 1820s performance practice with current interactive computer music. The project toured in Belgium, Denmark, France and Italy, and culminated in a CD release of new works.In this report we give some background information, and briefly introduce some analytical tools to help ground understanding of the musical context. We then focus on discussion of several performance practice problems, and the solutions to these problems which we developed during our work on this collaborative project. These problems and solutions are indicative of a performance practice that is specific to the combination of acoustic instruments and computer sound in chamber music. We found that the results of the project were artistically successful, giving rich experiences both for performers and audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research on theme-types (periods, sentences, hybrids, etc.) has dealt primarily with instrumental music. This article focuses on sentence form in vocal music, using Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin as a case study. Analysis reveals that Schubert's sentences often go hand in hand with poems that begin with rhyming couplets, that the type of sentence he uses depends upon the sense and structure of the text associated with it, and that he favors sentences with oddly repetitive presentation sections—“manic” versions of the form that emphasize the repetitiveness of Müller's verses and the obsessiveness of his lovesick hero. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the course of developing his groundbreaking approach to Wagner's musical language, Robert Bailey has suggested that innovations of nineteenth-century tonality "often resulted from the attribution of large-scale structural significance to relationships which were already implicit within the system and had served as mere foreground decoration." The present study tests Bailey's hypothesis as it applies to his concept of tonal pairing, the tendency for nineteenth-century composers to create decentered interactions among tonal areas, as an alternative to the unitary tonal hierarchy of the eighteenth century. The concept of tonal pairing has most often been associated with "progressive" nineteenth-century repertories, but the focus here will be on monotonal genres par excellence as exemplified by instrumental forms of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms. The intent is to trace the influence of tonal pairing in this "conservative" strain of nineteenth-century music, which both predates and runs parallel to Wagnerian developments, and to underscore that tonal pairing may indeed have large-scale structural significance within and across movements in these works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theorists at least as far back as Tovey have noted a number of movements by Schubert and Brahms that seem anomalous, with respect both to the rest of their works and to the way we generally understand the formal conventions of the classical Viennese instrumental music that constituted their horizon of expectations. I submit that these pieces are considered sui generis only because they have not been analyzed in light of more flexible 18th-century techniques for combining ritornello and binary procedures, whether in rondos, in concerto forms, or in concertante chamber music. This paper uses Schenkerian analysis together with concepts drawn from historical theory to reveal structural similarities between ritornello forms by Haydn and Mozart on the one hand, and Schubert and Brahms on the other. The paper draws comparisons between specific pieces (for instance, the finale of Mozart's Sonata in C Minor, K. 457, and the first movement of Brahms's Trio in C Minor, op. 101) not for the purpose of claiming an empirically verifiable instance of influence but rather to demonstrate strikingly similar fusions of ritornello and sonata principles. On a more general level, this paper is intended as a contribution to Schenkerian studies, specifically towards the application of the theory not only to the analysis of individual pieces but also to broader considerations of rhythm, style, form, and genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moderator was ubiquitous in pianos made between 1790 and 1830 in Europe. Despite this, there was very little contemporary advice on how and when to use it. Modern usage varies widely and is often based on little more than personal taste.In Paris, Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760–1812) wrote keyboard sonatas that used an extended dynamic range. These were unfeasible on instruments of the period unless a moderator was used. He did not use this dynamic range in his London sonatas, which were played on pianos without a moderator. By comparing the dynamic and expressive marks of these sets of sonatas, coding can be derived that is consistent with the use of the moderator as described by composer Louis Adam, Dussek’s Paris contemporary. This coding appears to be consistent in the works of Dussek’s fellow composers in France and Germany and can provide a textual basis for decisions on the use of the moderator by modern performers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]