Topic B: First movements

Question 1

Stamitz op 3 no 2

Answer 1

• Can be understood as a hybrid of Ritornello form and sonata form
• Recapitulation reverses the order of the subjects and the tonic returns in the equivalent of the development.
• Double return of the tonic.

Question 2

CPE Bach E minor

Answer 2

-The first movement is in a more old-fashioned Ritornello form (the Baroque equivalent of a rondo) with the opening unison passage coming back in various keys throughout the movement. What is more unexpected are the constant sudden changes and contrasts of texture, tonality etc.

Question 3

Haydn 31

Answer 3

-Sonata form is more established and this allows Haydn to play around with it humorously. Haydn begins the recapitulation in the tonic minor with new material, deliberately undermining both elements of the double return.

Question 4

Beethoven 3

Answer 4

-Sonata form is hugely expanded in this first movement and made much more dramatic. Beethoven takes a simple arpeggio theme but manages to give it a heroic, weighty feel through both its orchestral presentation and the dramatic journey undergone in the symphony. After the diatonic opening, there is an unexpected C# in bar 8 which is resolved at the end of the movement with a simple diatonic melody.

Question 5

Tchaikovsky 5

Answer 5

-The first movement is in sonata form but it is much expanded with a profusion of themes introduced in the exposition. This greater length and complexity allows for a more complex and involved emotional narrative.

Question 6

Dvorak 8

Answer 6

• Although the work is in G major, the piece starts (like Haydn 104) with an introduction in G minor.
• What is more unusual is that Dvorak brings that introductory material back at all the major structural points, including the beginning of the development and recapitulation, where the turn back to G major produces a very forceful and satisfying resolution

Question 7

Mahler 2

Answer 7

• The first movement of Mahler’s second symphony is nearly 25 minutes and it shows a typically Romantic approach to sonata form in that it contains huge contrasts and drama.
• In the end, despite many twists and turns, it is in C minor despair that this movement, which lasts more than twenty minutes, ends. The emotional torture of this movement leads Mahler to ask for a five minute pause before the next movement, but this is rarely adhered to in performance.