analysis of k.465 first movement

Feldmahler1

Feldmahler

02November2006

AnAnalysisoftheFirstMovementofMozart'sK.465inRelationtotheIdeaofRhetoricandOration

I. Introduction

While there are several analytical studies of the famous introduction to Mozart's Dissonant

QuartetK.465,fewofthesestudieselaborateontherelevanceofthisintroductiontotherestofthefirst

movement.Yet,ifwearetofollowtheideaofmusicasrhetoricaspropoundedbyEnlightenmentwriters

withregardstoinstrumentalmusic,themostnaturalandcrucialfollowupanalysiswouldbetoseehow

theideasinthisextraordinaryintroductionarestatedandelaborateduponintherestofthepiece.An

notableexceptiontothisisMarkEvanBonds,whodidindeeddoabriefanalysisofK.465inhisbook.

Yet,notonlyisitextremelybrief,italsoseemstomissthemainideaofthepieceitself,whichrather

weakensthisexampleinhisargumentfortheideaofrhetoricinclassicalmusic.

Toremedythisanalyticaldefect,wewillfirstbrieflydiscussanddefinethisideaofrhetoricwhich

wearetryingtomeasureK.465against.Wewillthenengageinadetailedanalysisofthefirstmovement

ofK.465,andfindoutwhethertheseideasalsoapplytoK.465.

II.TheIdeaofRhetoricinInstrumentalMusic

Kochwrote inhis MusikalischesLexikon of1802 that rhetoric is thenamegivenbysome

teachersofmusic tothatbodyofknowledgebelongingtocompositionbywhichindividualmelodic

sectionsareunitedintoawhole,accordingtoadefinitepurpose(qtd.inBonds53),or,aslaterother

writersput it, unity invariety(Bonds98). Indeed,asBondsnotes,rhetoric inmost18thcentury

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writingsiscloselytiedtobroaderconceptualissuesoflargescaleform(Bonds53).

Andinthisissueoflargescaleform,the Hauptsatz occupiesadominantposition.Kirnberger

defines Hauptsatz asaperiodwithinamusicalworkthatincorporatestheexpressionandthewhole

essenceofthemelody(qtd.inBonds94).TheimplicationsofthisideaofaHauptsatzseemstwofold.

Ononehand,itsupportstheideaofunityinvariety,whichBondscallsoneofthemostimportant

aestheticdoctrinesoftheeighteenthcentury(Bonds98).Ontheotherhand,italsosupportstoacertain

extenttheideaofmusicasoration,1 inthesensethatthe Hauptsatz canbeseenasthethesisofthe

oration;andsinceideas...flowoutoftheHauptsatz(Marpurg,qtd.inBonds102),therestofthepiece

canalsoconceivablybeparalleledwiththerestoftheoration,allofwhichisinsomesortofrelationto

theHauptsatz.Morespecifically,Matthesonarguesthatanentiremusicalworkmustobservethesame

six parts that are normally prescribed for the orator, namely: the introduction, the narration, the

proposition, the proof, the refutation, and the closing, otherwise known as: Exordium, Narratio,

Propositio,Confirmatio,Confutatio,andPeroratio(Bonds8586).Herewemustnotethedichotomy

betweenthegeneral(unityinvariety)andthespecific(structureofanoration).Yetthisissurelyfar

fromablackandwhitesituation;rather,itcanbeseenasaspectrum,withthegeneralatoneend,andthe

specificattheotherend.

ItisindeedfromthisvantagepointofrhetoricthatweapproachtheanalysisofK.465,toconfirm,

first,whetherthepiececonformstotheideaofrhetoricatall,andifitdoes,thedegreetowhichit

conformswiththespecificintheideaofrhetoric.However,asBondsnotes,one'sevaluationofthe

1 BondsnotesthatMatthesoncallsthemusicalworkaKlangrede,anorationinnotes(Bonds85).

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relationshipamong thematic ideas in any individualworkormovementdepends largelyuponone's

broaderbeliefin(orskepticismtoward)theverylegitimacyofsuchconnections(Bonds101).Iwillnot

pretendthatIamcompletelyneutralonthissubject,butwillinsteadallowtheanalysistospeakforitself.

III. TheIdea2

Bondsnotesthattherearetwomotifs,whichhecallsmotifsaandb,3thatareexpandedupon

andvaried throughout themovement, yet hefails tonote thecrucial importanceof therelationship

betweenthetwomotifsontheentirepiece.Indeed,ifthereisoneIdeathatgovernstheentiremovement,

itwouldbethisrelationship,andnotthetwomotifsthemselves.Thisisnottosaythatthetwomotifsare

trivial(theyarenot),butratherthatthetwomotifsarethemselvesmerelymanifestations,ratherthanthe

essenceof,thisIdea.

ThemostobviousmanifestationofthisIdeaisindeedquitedirect:theamountofsheercontrast

between the introduction and the movement proper is astounding. Not only do we emerge from

dissonanceintoconsonance,minorintomajor,butthereisalsoapeculiarchangefromameterto

commontime.This wealthofcontrastsbetweeneven thegeneral senseof the introductionand the

movementpropershouldgivehintsastotheidentityofthisfundamentalIdeathatMozartattemptsto

expoundinthismovement(ifnottheentirework).AsSimonKeefepointsout,theanalogyofdarkness

tolightisacommondescriptionofthecontrastbetweentheintroductionandthemovementproperin

2 WhileKirnbergernotesthattheHauptsatz isgenerallycalledthe'theme'(Bonds94),wewillusethewordIdeaasasynonymfortheHauptsatzinthefollowinganalysistoavoidconfusion.

3 AccordingtoBonds,motifaisadescendingline,andbanascendingline(Bonds102103).Notethatforthepurposesofthisanalysistherhythmofthemotifwillnotbeconsidered,inordertoconcentrateonthemotif,andavoidanoverlybroadscopeofdiscussion.

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secondaryliterature(90).Itisalso,however,ametaphorthatseemstofitwiththeIdeaverywell.

Itisalsointhecontextofthiscontrastbetweendarknessandlightthatwecanfullyunderstandthe

relationshipbetweenBonds'stwomotifs.Indeed,toevensaythattherearetwomotifsthatgovernthe

piecewouldbetocompletelymissthepoint,forthereisonlyonemotif.WhatBondscallsthebmotif

istheantithesisoftheamotif:notonlyisittechnicallytheretrogradeorinversionofa,itistreated

asanantithesisthroughoutthemovement,asweshallseeshortly.Anditispreciselythisthatdetermines

theentirestructureofthepiece,renderingthenotionofanalyzingthepieceintermsofsonataform

superficial,andonlyusefulinsofarasitgivesusthemostgeneralsenseofstructure.

Itmustalsobenotedthatthismotifitselfisnotarbitrary.Itis,insofarastheIdeaisconcerned,the

bestmotif.ForinboththisIdeaanditscorrespondingmotif,weseereligious/philosophicalinfluenceson

music.Inmanywesternreligions(nottheleastofwhichbeingChristianity),weseemanyinstancesof

dualism:forexample,heavenvs.hell,lightvs.darkness.Anotherparallelinthisdualismwouldbeascent

vs.descent,andtheideaoftheascenttoheaven(orthelight)andthedescenttohell(ordarkness).When

werealizethis,thereasonforthechoiceofthisparticularmotif(anditsantithesis)onwhichtoexpound

theIdeabecomesobvious.

IV.TheIntroductionofK.465

NowthatwehaveageneralsenseoftheIdeathatdrivesthispiece,itisnecessarytofindouthow

thisideastructurestheentirepiece,andwewillbeginthistaskbyexaminingtheintroductionitself.Due

tothepopularityofthisintroductionwithmusictheorists,thereareavarietyofexcellentanalysisofthe

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harmonicimplicationsandcrossrelationsintheintroduction.4However,thisisnotthestyleofanalysis

thatwewilltake,sinceweareinterestedmoreinthemotivicaspectoftheintroduction.5

Bonds,amongmanyotherwriters,notedtheusageofthedescendingmotifinthechromaticcello

linefromm.1tom.12.6However,thereisanotherlayerinthemusicthatisatleastasimportant;andthis

wouldbethelinesofthethreeotherinstruments.Indeed,allofthemstartwithashortversionofthe

descendingmotif, followed immediately by the ascendingmotif, which not only neatly ends that

particularphrase,butalsolaysouttheIdea.Eventhecelloitselfalternatesbetweenthedescendingand

ascendingmotifs:immediatelyaftertheendingalongexpositionofthedescendingmotifonm.12,the

ascendingmotifisintroducedinm.13,onlytobecontradictedagainonebarlaterbythedescending

motif.Duringthistime,theotherinstrumentshavenotbeenidle;thedensepolyphonyischalkfullof

alternatingstatementsofbothascendinganddescendingmotifs,mostlyinastrongchromaticversionof

themotifs.Allthiscomestoatemporaryhaltonm.16,wherethemusicentersintoalimbolikestate,

untilaheavilymodifieddiatonicversionoftheascendingmotifappearsinthecelloinm.19.Yetanother

versionoftheascendingmotifappearsinbothviolinsabarlater(m.20),andwhichalsobringsthe

4 HereIreferthereadertoWilliamDeFotis,"Rehearings:Mozart,QuartetinC,K.465."19thCenturyMusic6.1(1982):3138,andSimonP.Keefe,"AnIntegrated'Dissonance':Mozart's'Haydn'QuartetsandtheSlowIntroductionofK.465."MozartJahrbuch2002(2002):87103.

5 Aclarificationoftheexactmeaningsoftheascendinganddescendingmotifsisinorder.Itismoreaccuratetocallthemtheascendinganddescendingvariationsofthemotif,butisinconvenienthereduetothewordiness,andsoascendingmotifanddescendingmotifareusedinstead,eventhoughitisreallythesamemotif.Also,bothmeanascalarline(thestrongversionbeingchromaticandtheweakerdiatonic),anddoes not includearpeggios, unless it is a clearvariation of someversionof themotif (ex. thearpeggiatedvariationoftheversionoftheascendingmotifstatedinthefirsttheme,whichisusedinthedevelopmentsection). Theexclusionof normalarpeggios isduetothefact thattheyarecommonasharmonicaccompanimentduringthatperiod.

6 ThescoreusedisfromtheNeueMozartAusgabe.

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introductiontoaclose.WecanseeinthisintroductionaveryclearpresentationofthefundamentalIdea

thatgovernstheentirepiece,namelythejuxtapositionofascentanddescent,orinabroadersenselight

anddarkness.

Anotherinterestingwaytoanalyzetheeffectofthispassagewithregardstotheideaofrhetoricis

presentedbyKeefe.Sincethisintroductionwouldbetheequivalenttotheexordiuminanoratorio,Keefe

quotesCiceroasdistinguishingbetweentwotypesofexordium:thedirectprincipium,andtheindirect

insinuatio.Theintroductionwouldbeanexemplarymodelfortheinsinuatioapproach,sincethevoices

creepinquietlyonebyone,graduallyandalmostimperceptiblyincreasingthenumberofpartsfromone

totwo,three,four,withunobtrusivesubjectsavoidinglargeleapsorfasterrhythms(Kierkendale,qtd.in

Keefe99),whichisexactlythedescriptionofinsinuatioinmusic.7Bothmethodsofanalysisagreethat

thisintroductioncanbestronglyparalleledtotheexordiuminanoration.

V. TheExpositionofK.465

WhatcanbecalledthefirstthemeofK.465isessentiallymanyrepetitionsofadiatonicversion8

oftheascendingmotifstrungtogether.Thisalsodictatesthegeneralsenseoftheentiresectionofmusic

until the entrance of the theme in the dominant at m. 56; here the ascendingmotif dominates

completely,althoughthereareafewstatementsofthedescendingmotif(seethenicealterationinthe

violinsbetweentheascendinganddescendingmotifsfromthesecondhalfofm.35tom.379).Eventhe

7 ThewholeparagraphpriortothisfootnoteisasummaryofKeefe'sargumentonp.99.8 Bydiatonic,Imeanascaleinwhichnotwoadjacentintervalsarebothsemitones,andbychromatic,

everythingelse.9 Oneshouldnoteheretheuseofpianowiththedescendingmotifandsforzandowiththeascendingmotif,

suggestingthedominanceoftheascendingmotif.Thiswillbereversedinthesecondtheme,asweshallseeshortly.

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transition,startingatm.44withthecello,isdominatedmostlybytheascendingmotif,thoughitdoes

introducewhatBondscallthenotterriblysignificantvariationofapreviousidea(103).Whileperhaps

beingnotterriblysignificant,itdoescontributetoanotherweaktwovoice10variationoftheascending

motifthatwillbeintroducedlateroninthesecondtheme.

Thesecondthemestartsonm.56withanoisyandboldstatementofthethesisinthefirstviolin,

tobeimmediatelyfollowedbytheweaktwovoicevariationoftheascendingmotif.Thisversionofthe

ascendingmotifisratherhesitant;itisnotasselfaffirmingasotherversionsespeciallyinthiscontext

sincenotonlyisitnotastraightscalarline,itisalsoplayedmostlypiano,incontrasttothedescending

motif,whichisplayedforte.11Theharmonicprogressionthataccompaniesitfromm.60tom.67isalso

quiteunstable,withthemovementaroundthecircleoffifths.Thisdestabilizationofwhatwasastable

ascendingmotifcanbeseenasareactiontotheboldentry(orreentry,iftheIntroductionisincluded)of

thedescendingmotifitself.Thisoppositionofdescendingandascendingmotifsdoesnotgetresolvedin

thisportionofthesecondthematicarea;instead,thelimbomusiccomesbackforonemeasureatm.72,

functioningsimilartoanintroductiontothesecondhalfofthesecondthematicarea.

Thesecondhalfofthesecondthematicareastarts,motivically,onthesecondhalfofm.73.While

thismightatfirstseemtonotbeinanywayasplittingpointstructurally(andmaystillnotbe;m.72

seemslikeamuchbettersplittingpoint), it ismotivicallyofcrucial importance;astrongchromatic

versionofthedescendingmotifisalmostsimultaneouslyintroducedinallfourinstruments.Thisisalso,

10 Twovoicebecauseitcanbeseenastwoascendingmotifsathirdapartcompressedintooneline.11 Asnotedbefore,thisisareverseofwhathappenedinthefirsttheme(seefootnote9above).

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ofcourse,thefirstintroductionofthechromaticdescendingmotifsincetheIntroductionitself.Andthe

significanceofthisisnotlostontherestoftheexposition;almostimmediatelyafterthischromatic

descendingmotifentrance,12therearestatementsofthedescendingmotifeverywhere(anduninterrupted

too),untilm.86.Thisissimilartothedominanceoftheascendingmotifinthefirstthematicarea;hereit

isthedescendingmotifassertingitsdominanceovertheascendingmotif.

This dominance of the descending motif, however, is broken by the same instrument that

originallyintroducedit,inm.87,withasweepingfortestatementoftheascendingmotifthatspansmore

than2octaves.Ascanbeexpected,themusicenterslimbo13againforthreemeasuresafterwards(m.

8891),whilecadencingstronglyonG.Afterthecadence(m.91),weenterasectionthatcanbecalled

theclosingtheme,sinceinthissectionthedescendingandascendingmotifsaresynthesized.Weseea

returnofthesamevariationoftheascendingmotifusedinthefirsttheme,butthistime,duetothe

contrast with previous statements of theascending motif in thesecond thematicarea, seemnot as

assertive:notonlyisitplayedpiano,italsousesplaineighthnotes,incontrasttothetripleteighthsor

sixteenthsusedinthesecondthematicareaforstatementsofboththeascendinganddescendingmotifs.

Alsonotethatthedescendingmotifcomesbackandalternateswiththeascendingmotifafewbarsinto

thesection,breakingwhateverdominancetheascendingmotifhadleft(ifithadanyinthissectionatall).

Thisculminatesinthesectionclimaxatm.103,whenbothascendinganddescendingmotifsarestated

together,withtwoinstrumentsplayingeach,aperfectsynthesis.NotealsothepoignantAflatinthe

12 Thereisindeedonebarof limbomusic(m.76)rightafterthestatementofthechromaticdescendingmotif,butthiscaneasilybeseenasaphrasingrequirement.

13 This,unlikethepreviouslimbo,doesnotusethelimboideafromtheIntroduction,butitdoeshavethesamesenseofhovering,withminimal(linewise,notharmonywise)senseofdirection.

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cello;notonlydoesitseemlikeanechooftheAnatural/AflatcrossrelationintheIntroduction(thereis

ahighAnaturalinthefirstviolinthe8thnotedirectlybefore),italsofurtherhighlightstheimportanceof

thissectionclimax.

VI. TheDevelopment

ThedevelopmentsectionofK.465startsonm.107andendsonm.154.Interestingly,theentire

sectioncanbecalledaretransitioninthesensethatoneofitsmainpurposesistotransitionfromthe

synthesisbacktotheascendingmotifdominatedfirsttheme.Indeed,amidallthelimbolikeideasand

harmonicinstability,weonlyseestatementsoftheascendingmotif,boththefirstthemeversionofit,and

anarpeggiatedvariationof thatversion,withnotasinglestatementof thedescendingmotif.14 This

section,intheorationschema,canbeseenassomethingsimilartotheproof;somethingtoreassertthe

dominanceoftheascendingmotif.

VII.TheRecapitulation

Therecapitulationstartsinm.155,andmainlyfollowsthesetupoftheexposition.However,like

allrecapitulationsinsonatas,therearechanges,anditisthesechangesthatwewillconcernourselves

withinthissection,especiallychangesaffectingthemotifs.

Themainchangesintherecapitulationarenotdirectlyrelatedtothemotifs;theyaremainly

concernedwiththeenrichmentofharmonictexture(doubledlines,increasedpolyphony).However,the

transitionismostlycutout(exceptforthecadenceattheend),ratherthantransposedormodified,which

14 Therearesomearpeggiateddownwardmovementat theend,buttheyarenotdirectlyrelated (asavariation)toanyversionofthedescendingmotif,andcanbeseeninthiscontextasanaestheticwayofclosingthedevelopmentsection:itsetsupalittlecontrastsothatthereturnofthefirstthemesoundsfresh.

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considerablylessensthejuxtapositionoftheascendinganddescendingmotifs.Itsabsencealsolessens

theexpectationofthesecondthematicareasincethereisnoprolongedbuildup.Ofcourse,thefactthat

thedescendingmotif(i.e.secondthematicarea)comesbackinthetonickeyalsocontributestothis.

Thebeginningofthecoda(whichstartsonm.227)isthesameasthedevelopmentsection,which

maywellbeintentional:tomakeitseemlikethereisarepeat.However,itquicklyveersaway,intowhat

seemsalmostlikeasummaryofthedevelopment,withprolongedharmonicinstabilityforthefirst5bars

(alongwith statementsof a fairly strong semichromatic versionof theascendingmotif, andsome

limbomusic),followedbyastrongcadenceinthetonic(m.235).Thenwehavewhatcanbeseenasa

celebrationofthedominanceoftheascendingmotifoverthedescendingmotif(orlightoverdarkness),

withmultiplefortestatementsofthearpeggiatedversionoftheascendingmotifthatwasusedinthe

developmentsection.Yet,theendingisofsynthesis;note,inm.241tom.244,thateventhoughthemost

immediatelynotablelineisthefirstviolinplayingtheascendingmotif,boththesecondviolinandviola

playthedescendingmotifinhalfnotes.

VIII.RelationshipofAnalysistotheIdeaofRhetoric

Afterthisanalysis,therelationshipofK.465totheideaofrhetoricshouldbeclear.Indeed,one

canevencallK.465anexemplaryexampleoftheideaofrhetoric;thecoherenceofthemusic,motivically

speaking,isstunning.Itisalsowiththisanalysisthatwemayconclude,notonlythatideasintherestof

thepiece[flow]outoftheHauptsatz[orIdea](Bonds102),butthatitdoessotothepointthattheIdea

itselfdictatestheform,ratherthanfollowit.Alsotobenotedhereisthefactthat,eventhoughthepiece

doesnotfollowtheorationschemaexactly,itdoeshavethemainelementsofit:theexordium/narratio

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(introduction),propositio (firsttheme), confirmatio (developmentsection15), confutatio (secondtheme),

andtheperoratio(synthesis,i.e.coda).

Onemaywellsay,afterreadingthisanalysis,thattheideabeingpostulatedasthemainHauptsatz

ofthepieceistoogeneral;indeed,scalesofallsortscanbeseeninmany,perhapsmost,classicalpieces.

Indefense,Iwilldrawattentiontotheamountofscalarmotioninthispiece,andthepositioninthe

structureofthemovementthattheyoccupy.Bothwhatcanbecalledthefirstandsecondthemesare

heavilyscalar;thefirstbeingaseriesascendingscalesstrungtogether,andthesecondbeingastrong

(loud)andlongdescendingscalefollowedbyatimidascendingresponse.Whilescalesareindeed

commonlyusedduringtheclassicalperiod,fewworksexhibitsuchstrictscalarmotionintheirvery

themes;forexample,noneoftheotherfiveHaydnQuartets16havesuchstrictlyscalarthemes,especially

withsuchclearscalarcontrast(ascendingvs.descending)betweenthefirstandsecondthemes.

Circumstantialevidence,especiallyseeminglycommonones,cannotprovetheintentionofthe

composer,butwhenenoughpointtothesamesource,itisimpossibleforustoignoreitcompletely.

Indeed, it canevenbeaskedwhether it is necessary to prove intention; for, as Matthesonputs it,

experiencedmastersproceedinanorderlymanner,evenwhentheydonotthinkaboutit(qtd.inBonds

87).

15 Thedevelopmentsectioncanbeseenasrelatedtotheproof(confirmatio)inthesensethatitreassertsthedominanceofthefirsttheme,afteritwasdisplacedbythesecondinthesecondthematicarea.

16 K.387,421(K6.417b),428(K6.421b),458,and464.

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WorksConsulted

Bonds,MarkEvan.WordlessRhetoric:MusicalFormandtheMetaphoroftheOration.

Cambridge,Mass.:HarvardUniversityPress,1991.

DeFotis,William.Mozart,QuartetinC,K.465.19thCenturyMusic6.1(1982):3138.

Eisen,Cliff.Mozart'sChamberMusic.TheCambridgeCompaniontoMozart.Ed.SimonP.Keefe.

Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2003.105117.

Keefe,SimonP.AnIntegrated'Dissonance':Mozart's'Haydn'QuartetsandtheSlowIntroductionof

K.465.MozartJahrbuch(2002):87103.

LaRue,Jan.TheHaydnDedicationQuartets:AllusionorInfluence?TheJournalofMusicology18.2

(Spring,2001):361373.Mozart,WolfgangAmadeus.NeueAusgabesmtlicherWerke:StringQuartetK.465.

Ed.ErnstFritzSchmid.Kassel:Barenreiter,1958.

Vertrees,JulieAnne.Mozart'sStringQuartetK.465:TheHistoryofaControversy.

CurrentMusicology17(1974):96114.