Essay About First Theme And Second Statement Of The First Theme

Mozart K310 Sonata (2nd Movement)
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Mozart k310 sonata (2nd movement) Analyzation
The 2nd movement of the Mozart k310 Piano Sonata resembles standard sonata form in many ways. It opens with a first theme in F (same as key signature). The theme is four bars long; two bars of antecedant, two bars of consequent. Mozart then starts the first theme again with a 32nd note run pick-up instead of the 16th note arpeggio pick-up in the the begginning of the piece so we are prepared for variation in the second statement of the first theme. He then continues the theme with variation until the consequent phrase which is completely different from the first consequent phrase. This new consequent has not only faster rhythmic

movement but also compressed harmonic rythym. This tension prepares the listener for the textural shift that is about to occur. The Bridge begins with 16th note arpeggios in the bass, a contrast to the quarter note dominated bass of the first theme. Unlike a typical bridge section which modulates far from the original key, this bridge just moves from I to V7 for several bars before going to ii. Then, rather than using the ii in a familiar ii-V7-I cadence, the ii is arpeggiated for an entire bar in the melody. This is further obscured by the chromatics used in the arpeggio, a half step movement to each chord tone. The next bar returns to I without a real cadence and then quickly moves to V. We are now at the second them and it does begin in C (V, the way most second themes begin), but C has not really been tonicized. C still sounds like V. This is solved by the ‘b’ natural in the pickups to the second theme, implying the new key center with a leading tone in place of a true tonicization from a cadence. The second theme, like the first, has an antecedant and consequent phrase. However, they are each only one bar rather than two as in the first theme. They are then repeated without variation but in another register with a trill in the treble. There is then a sonata form rounding off of the second theme for three bars. The closing follows the second theme and is quite long in this piece. A short repeated figure in the first bar and a half is ended by what sounds at first like modulation, but does not actually continue to another key. It instead rounds off back to C and the first short repeated figure enters again, this time with ornamentation. This time the figure ends when it arrives at a ii chord and there is a new texture. A long d minor melodic scale in the treble ends in the next bar on a I chord and is echoed by a G major scale in the bass. The I chord confuses the tonal direction becasuse the listener expects the ii to be followed by V and then I. This is even more confusing because the scale that accompanies the I chord implies V (the chord the listener wants to hear). The next bar rounds off this cadential prolongation (ii-V-I) but the exposition does not yet end. The arrival to I does not occur until beat three of the bar. The first two beats create even more prolongation as they nearly modulate. And even after this, the exposition is not done. There is a two bar codetta (a one bar figure played twice, the second time with variation) before the strong V7-I cadence with a C pedal tone. This is the first very strong cadence since the start of the closing material. Since the cadence at the end of the exposition is to C without any hint of F as a tonic, the Developement begins in C. In fact, it is clearly in C as its pick-ups are a C arpeggio and the first bar looks and sounds like I and shows no indication of a ‘Bb’ or any other scale alteration. The opening of the development

is also a textural change but seems to resemble old material in its melody. Both the first theme and the second theme have similar figures to the new material. The development

starts with tonal movement in each of the first two measures, I in the first measure and ii6 in the second. In the third bar the harmonic rythym increases with a I64 for the first two beats and a V7 in the third beat. The next bar is a I6 followed by a bar with a harmonic change each beat: ii6, I64, and V7. Already there is tonal ambiguity. Twice a ii chord has returned to I intstead of continuing to a V chord or a substitute. And at the end of the 6th bar of the development a V7 has been set up. The V7 does not resolve to I. Instead, it resolves to i, the parallel minor. At this point (bar 7) there is a dramatic textural change, triplet motion in the bass. Also, the bass has moved from slow movement in the higher register to rapid movement in the low register. So now every quality of the piece (tonality, rythym, and register) has been drastically changed. The bass now arpeggiates for while, making chords easily definable by note name, but their implications become much more difficult to identify. The harmonic motion occurs each bar. Measure 8 is a clear D major arpeggio.