K. 332 First Movement Analysis

Mozart Sonata No. 12 in F Major K. 332 First Movement Rachel Gilmore MTC 461. 001 November 26, 2012 The first movement of Mozart’s piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major is written fairly typically in the very structured sonata form. Historically is follows the main guidelines that were understood for the form. Harmonically, is progresses like expected. There are a few surprises here and there, but they are typical for Mozart’s compositions, especially his sonatas of the 18th century. In all, it makes a very interesting piece of work, especially with so much contrast within it.

The formal structure of the first movement is sonata form. Not only is this evident in the title but it is very clear after an analysis of the piece has been done. Sonata form is incredibly structured and has specific sections and parts that must be present in order for it to be a true sonata. These sections are split relating to key mostly. All of the required parts are present in this work with the expected key changes, deeming it sonata form. The piece starts with the exposition, excluding the optional introduction that can be added if a composer so chooses.

This exposition is the first ninety-three measure of the movement. The end is marked with a repeat sign. In the sonata, the exposition is repeated, so this follows normal sonata formatting. All parts of the exposition are included in this sonata; theme 1, a transition, theme 2, a bridge, a closing theme, and a codetta are all present. These sections within the exposition modulate just as they are supposed to, further showing that this piece is in sonata form. The first theme is in the tonic key of F Major. The transition modulates from the tonic key to the dominant key, C Major, which is typical for a transition.

Theme 2 stays in the dominant key, as does the bridge, closing theme, and codetta. The next section of music is the development. It is not very long in comparison to the exposition and the coming development, lasting only thirty-nine measures. It behaves just like a normal development should. It modulates a few times and does so very often and quite quickly. In this development, Mozart chose to use a sequence of new material, repeating it at different pitch levels to change keys. Some material from the first theme group and the bridge is also used.

There is no false return of the first theme group, but this is most likely because the development was so short in comparison. But, the material developed from the bridge in the exposition is used to transition the end of the development into the recapitulation. The recapitulation is also standard of sonata form. Every section of the exposition should return, only with no modulations. The Recapitulation should remain entirely in the original tonic key that should have been set up by the development. The first theme group returns in the tonic key of F Major.

The transition also returns and stays in the tonic key. The second theme group also comes back, staying in the tonic key as well. The same is true of the bridge, returning in F Major only. Next, the closing theme group returns also in the original key. And lastly, the codetta returns, continuing to stay in the tonic key. The form of this sonata by Mozart matches what was typical of the sonata form in the 18th century. There was a specific way what sonatas were to be composed, one that helps analysts of the present study this classical form.

But, there are some things that Mozart included that were innovative and surprising for the times. These include harmonies that differ slightly from what were common, and motivic sequences that were quite originative. The motivic sequences other composers included in their sonatas during this time were fairly simple. Listeners liked to hear something they could easily remember, something that could get stuck in their heads, that they could hum for days or weeks after they first heard it. This usually resulted in music that contained few melodic ideas that were played with and developed.

Mozart, however, began to make a trend in the later part of the 18th century of having several tuneful sequences throughout his sonatas. The No. 12 F Major sonata is a great example. The first movement in itself has seven different melodic devices. The harmony tends to stay within the realm of normal for the 1700’s. There are places, though, where Mozart again drifts from common practices. Mozart was fairly well known for his inventive bridge sections during the expositions of his sonatas. In these bridge sections, Mozart would begin a theme on v (minor), ?

III, III, VI, or V that eventually creates the false sense of having transposed to the dominant V key. Often Mozart would proceed to the tonic sounding V with an augmented sixth chord. He does just this in Sonata number 12, as shown in the example on the top of the next page in measures sixty-four through sixty-seven. VI7 ii7 V7 Ger+6 V Mozart begins a harmony on a Major sixth chord and leads into a V with a seventh chord, giving a dominant to tonic feel.

He further gives this effect by leading into another V with the augment sixth German chord that has been filled out with a perfect fifth and a major third above the A? bass. Though the augmented sixth chord is voiced unorthodoxly, it gives the same effect. The chord structure of this work is very functional. Cadence points are fairly clear and the phrases are usually of a typical length. Most of the phrases are four measures long. A few exceptions to this rule exist in the work. They show up in a few different ways including elided cadences and extended harmony.

Some of the phrases elide into each other giving the effect that they are in some cases longer than four measures and in other cases, shorter. An example of this is in measures fifty-five through fifty-seven, shown at the top of the next page. The first measure shown harmonizes a V7 chord in the key of C Major. The next measure harmonizes the I chord that finishes the imperfect authentic cadence begun in the phrase. But this tonic chord also acts as the beginning harmony for the next phrase continued in the last measure

V7 I V7 shown in the example with a V7 chord, and also the beginning of the bridge. So this cadence point has been elided and includes the same measure in not only two separate phrases but also two separate parts of the exposition, theme 2 and the bridge. The same type of cadences happens several other times throughout the first movement. There are also several phrases that have been extended through the use of harmony. The second cadence point of the bridge, measure sixty-seven, is the end of a phrase that started in measure sixty.

This phrase lasts so long because the harmony has been heavily and easily lengthened through the progressive use of secondary dominants and seventh chords. This is illustrated in the example below. i iv7V7/III V7/VI VI7 ii7 V7 Ger+6 V Some interesting harmony occurs at several of the phrase points within the exposition and the development. Half cadences end on the dominant V chord. But there are several cases in this sonata where a cadence point is reached, and there is another, weaker dominant in the place of the V chord.

In the transition section of the exposition, there are two half cadences that occur one right after the other where a weaker dominant occurs. The first one uses a viio chord instead of a V. At the end of the next phrase, an augmented sixth chord is used, the German augmented sixth with an augmented fourth and minor third. Also, in the development, a III chord is used instead of the V during a harmonization the parallel minor key. This is quite unorthodox, especially for the times, but has the same effect within the context of the music surrounding it as using the usual dominant V chord.

Most interestingly, there is a lot of contrast in within the music. Mozart was something of an innovator of contrast within a musical piece of his time. He played around with contrasting the works as they were published (composing a fast and exciting piece just after having printed a slow one) and also with dynamics, melodies, rhythms, and other musical devices within the works themselves. Sonata No. 12 is no exception. Throughout the first movement, Mozart goes back and forth between fast moving piano parts that require up and down motion on the scale to blocked chords in both hands.

He also takes advantage of contrasting dynamics. Sections will go immediately from being the dynamic of piano into a next section that is marked forte with no crescendo, and vice versa. He also used rhythmic contrast. One section might be quarters and eights squarely on the beat and then be promptly followed by a section that features dotted rhythms or triplets regularly. These contrasts were very interesting for the audiences of the 18th century to hear because it was outside of what was expected. Below is an example of contrasting rhythmic sections.

The first movement of this F Major sonata by Mozart follows the basic sonata form. There are some discrepancies along the way, even concerning basic harmonic music theory, but the outlining format still remains. The contrast makes it an interesting piece of music to analyze and hear. And the harmony is, for the majority, what is expected of basic progressions. Bibliography Balthazar, Scott L. “Tonal and Motivic Process in Mozart’s Expositions,” The Journal of Musicology 16, no. 4 (1998): 421-466, http://www. jstor. org. steenproxy. sfasu. edu:2048/stable/pdfplus/763978. pdf. Hepokoski, James. Beyond the Sonata Principle,” Journal of the American Musicological Society 55, no. 1 (2002): 91-154, http://www. jstor. org. steenproxy. sfasu. edu:2048/stable/pdfplus/10. 1525/jams. 2002. 55. 1. 91. pdf? acceptTC=true. Kamien, Roger and Wager, Nephtali. “Bridge Themes within a Chromaticized Voice Exchange in Mozart Expositions,” Music Theory Spectrum 19, no. 1 (1997): 1-12, http://www. jstor. org. steenproxy. sfasu. edu:2048/stable/pdfplus/745996. pdf. King, A. Hyatt. Mozart in Retrospect: Studies in Criticism and Bibliography. London: Oxford University Press, 1955. Landon, H. C.

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