Dvořák and Subordinate Theme Closure

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-240
Author(s):  
Peter H. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Chamber Music ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
Sonata Form ◽  
Positive Theory ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Tonal Structure ◽  
The Face ◽  
Gravitational Pull ◽  
Formal Design

Form theorists have shown increasing interest in applying the methodologies of Caplin and of Hepokoski and Darcy to sonata forms of the nineteenth century. Many of these efforts proceed under the assumption that late eighteenth-century norms continued to influence Romantic sonata form even in the face of nineteenth-century innovations. Vande Moortele contrasts this “negative” approach to an as-yet-unrealized “positive” theory that would derive its concepts directly from nineteenth-century music. A multipart strategy interrogates the positive methodology championed by Vande Moortele and such like-minded theorists as Horton and Wingfield. Examination of Horton’s recent analysis of Brahms’s First Symphony reveals the unacknowledged presence of classical norms casting a “negative” light—although an essential and beneficial one—on his presumably “positive” methodology. A corpus study of subordinate theme closure in Dvořák’s mature chamber music responds both to Horton’s interest in asynchrony between formal design and tonal structure and to his and Vande Moortele’s calls for expanding the range of composers included in these endeavors. Attention to a less studied composer betrays the persistent gravitational pull of classical conventions, in contrast to Horton’s and Vande Moortele’s argument that a Romantic-centered corpus would tend to diminish that pull. Detailed analyses of select Dvořák movements focus on subordinate theme closure but also embrace broader concerns, such as form-functional contrast among P, S, C, and coda; characteristics that signal end-of-the-beginning versus end-of-the-end functions for cadences; the interaction of tonal pairing and formal design; and Dvořák’s recapitulatory reinterpretations of his expositional strategies. The analyses illustrate limitations of corpus study as contrasted with close reading of individual movements. The close readings underscore the need to engage both circumpolar norms and progressive linear developments, even in music written in the last decades of the nineteenth century.

scholarly journals Hypermetrical Irregularity in Sonata Form: A Corpus Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Jonathan De Souza ◽  
David Lokan
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Structural Instability ◽  
Sonata Form ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Form Development

In sonata form, development sections are characterized by tonal, textural, and phrase-structural instability. But are these instabilities counterbalanced by regularity in other musical domains? Are any syntactic layers more consistent in developments, relative to expositions or recapitulations? This corpus study examined hypermeter in expositions and developments from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century symphonic sonata movements. It analyzed both hypermetrical shifts (where a hypermeasure's duration differs from that of the preceding group) and hypermetrical deviations (where a hypermeasure departs from the four-measure norm). Developments had significantly less hypermetrical irregularity than expositions. This difference between formal sections was observed with all composers in the corpus, though they used varied amounts of hypermetrical regularity overall. These results, which are likely related to sequence blocks in the developmental core, suggest that hypermetrical grouping might serve a stabilizing function in sonata developments.

Beethoven's String Quintet in C major, Op. 29, and Brahms's String Sextets: A Wallflower Blooms

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
William Horne
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Chamber Music ◽  
Johannes Brahms ◽  
Close Friend ◽  
Chamber Works ◽  
String Quintet ◽  
Joseph Joachim ◽  
Formal Design ◽  
Similar Elements

Beethoven's String Quintet, Op. 29, has been described as a ‘wallflower’ work that, without enough suitors, remains on the sidelines of the string chamber music repertoire. But in the nineteenth century it had a prominent champion, Joseph Joachim, whose performances of the quintet must have attracted the attention of his close friend, Johannes Brahms. The opening theme of Brahms's String Sextet, Op. 18, is clearly reminiscent of the beginning of Beethoven's quintet. Evidence from Donald Francis Tovey's recollections of Joachim, Joachim's correspondence with the Brahms biographer Max Kalbeck, and the manuscript of Op. 18 shows that Joachim influenced an important revision that aligns the beginning of Brahms's sextet closely with the opening of Beethoven's Op. 29 also in terms of texture and formal design. The striking tremolo opening and virtuosic scale passages in the finale of Beethoven's quintet prefigure similar elements in the last movement of Brahms's Op. 36 sextet. But the deeper relationship between these movements lies in certain shared formal elements: a common emphasis on sound, texture and sharp contrasts between agitato and pastoral elements as defining features of the overall form – and several distinctive similarities of contrapuntal strategy, form and tonal design between the substantial fugatos that dominate the development sections of both movements. It is often observed that Brahms wrote chamber works in pairs. Scholars have often posited that his two string sextets form such a pair, but the separation of four years in their inceptions and his extensive use of Baroque-style materials composed in the 1850s in the later sextet have made this argument tenuous. It now emerges that an unusual pairing feature of Brahms's string sextets is that both works respond to Beethoven's ‘wallflower’ masterpiece.

The Sino-Japanese War and the Collapse of the Qing and Confucian World Order in the Face of Japanese Imperialism and European Acquiescence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sze-lok Leung ◽  
Bijun Xu
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
East Asian ◽  
World Order ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Japanese Imperialism ◽  
The Face ◽  
Late Nineteenth

The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) has been perceived as a sign of a new East Asian power order, but the legitimacy of the war has yet to be clarified. The Japanese foreign minister Mutsu’s Kenkenroku shows that the reasons claimed by Japan were only pretexts for its ambition to put Korea under its control. The 1885 Convention of Tianjin, which was used to justify the Japanese behaviour, needs to be reinterpreted. The Chinese reaction can be understood by exploration into Confucianism, which opposed wars between equal peers. Meanwhile, the Western powers which invented and developed international law were self-interested and did little to prevent the war. The incident shows that international law, empowered by the strong states, failed to maintain peace efficiently in the late nineteenth century.

Literary Experimentation in Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues: Transcending "Critical Attitudes" in the Face of Societal Ruination

2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Adrian J. Wallbank
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
British Society ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Class Culture ◽  
The Face ◽  
Literary Techniques

Adrian J. Wallbank, "Literary Experimentation in Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues: Transcending 'Critical Attitudes' in the Face of Societal Ruination" (pp. 1–36) In the aftermath of the French "Revolution Controversy," middle-class evangelical writers made a concerted effort to rehabilitate the moral fabric of British society. Hannah More's Cheap Repository Tracts (1795–98) are recognized as pivotal within this program, but in this essay I question whether they were really as influential as has been supposed. I argue that autobiographical evidence from the period demonstrates an increasing skepticism toward overt didacticism, and that despite their significant and undeniable penetration within working-class culture, the Cheap Repository Tracts, if not all "received ideologies," were increasingly being rejected by their readers. This essay examines the important contribution that Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues (1801) made to this arena. Hill, like many of his contemporaries, felt that British society was facing ruination, but he also recognized that overt moralizing and didacticism was no longer palatable or effective. I argue that Hill thus experimented with an array of literary techniques—many of which closely intersect with developments occurring within the novel and sometimes appear to contradict or undermine the avowed seriousness of evangelicalism—that not only attempt to circumvent what Jonathan Rose has described as the "critical attitudes" of early-nineteenth-century readers, but also effectively map the "transitional" nature of the shifting literary and social terrains of the period. In so doing, Hill contributed signally to the evolution of the dialogue form (which is often synonymous with mentoring and didacticism), since his use of conversational mimesis and satire predated the colloquialism of John Wilson's Noctes Ambrosianae (1822–35) and Walter Savage Landor's Imaginary Conversations (1824–29).

scholarly journals A Vigorous Affirmation of Life: Slaves in the Face of Dehumanization

Elements ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Nista
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
American South ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Chattel Slavery ◽  
Affirmation Of Life ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The American South

For a slave living under the system of chattel slavery in the American South during the nineteenth century, avenues of self-expression were extremely limited. One of the few ways slaves could exert control over their own lives was through singing and dancing. These arts gave slaves a chance to relieve stress and establish a culture through the creation of musical instruments, songs, and dances. All of these contained hints at the true nature of slaves’ feelings towards the system that oppressed them, feelings that they had to frequently repress. However, despite slaves’ efforts to make this culture entirely their own, masters tried to find ways to use it to their advantage instead of to the slaves’ benefit. The resulting covert power struggle sometimes ended in favor of the masters, taking the form of regulations on slaves’ dances, requirement of the performance of songs and dances for the masters’ entertainment, and even abuse of slaves by using their own arts. Ultimately, however, slaves emerged victorious because of the hidden messages in their songs and dances. Though this method of coping could not erase all the masters did, it was at least one glimmer of hope.

scholarly journals Resolving Tensions between Outer Form and Inner Form in Fugue: A Comparative Analysis of J. S. Bach’s Fugue in D minor (WTC I)

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Marlowe
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Voice Leading ◽  
Tonal Structure ◽  
Musical Excerpts ◽  
Schenkerian Theory ◽  
Formal Design

This study offers a comparative analysis of J. S. Bach’s Fugue in D minor, from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I (WTC I). Detailed examination of multiple divergent readings of the same musical excerpts raises important questions about Schenkerian theory and its application to fugal textures. I suggest that analytical discrepancies arise primarily when voice-leading concerns are not completely disentangled from our deeply rooted views of formal design in fugue. In the end, an over-reliance on the details of outer form risks blocking access to the fugue’s inner form. I identify and resolve significant differences that emerge at the foreground in these readings, later considering how a combined view of formal design (outer form) and tonal structure (inner form) resolves ambiguities and enhances our understanding of the work as a whole.

scholarly journals Chief of this River

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Rick Fehr ◽  
Janet Macbeth ◽  
Summer Sands Macbeth
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
War Of 1812 ◽  
Community Life ◽  
Upper Canada ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Indigenous History ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Primary Documents ◽  
The Face

The narratives of European settlement in Canada have largely excluded the presence of Indigenous peoples on contested lands. This article offers an exploration of an Anishinaabeg community and a regional chief in early nineteenth century Upper Canada. The community known as the Chenail Ecarté land, and Chief Zhaawni-binesi, have become historically obscure. Through the use of primary documents the authors explore the community’s history, its relocation, and Chief Zhaawni-binesi’s role in the War of 1812 and in community life. Ultimately, the paper charts the relocation of the community in the face of mounting settler encroachment. The discussion attempts to increase knowledge and appreciation of Indigenous history in Southwestern Ontario.

“What Comes From Men and Women Dancing”

2021 ◽  
pp. 173-184
Author(s):  
Sonia Gollance
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Female Agency ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Dance Floor ◽  
The Face ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Fictional Representations

The epilogue connects tropes of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries of Jews, dance, and modernization with late twentieth- and twenty-first-century representations. Popular works such as Fiddler on the Roof (1964), Dirty Dancing (1987), Rebecca Goldstein’s Mazel (1995), Kerry Greenwood’s Raisins and Almonds: A Phryne Fisher Mystery (1997), Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni (2013), and Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver (2018) reveal the continued efficacy of the mixed-sex dancing trope in fictional representations of Yiddish-speaking Jews. These works are often less didactic than nineteenth-century predecessors; they envision more opportunities for female agency and frequently end happily. Not only is the dance floor a flexible space, the dance trope is a flexible metaphor for the concerns of Jewish communities in the face of cultural transitions. In other words, the trope of Jewish mixed-sex dancing charts the particularities of the Jewish “dance” with modern culture.

Modern Dating and Respectability on Trial

2019 ◽  
pp. 146-170
Author(s):  
Tyler Carrington
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
German Society ◽  
Middle Class Woman ◽  
The Face ◽  
Class Woman ◽  
Legal Strategy ◽  
The Way

Chapter 5 follows the sensational trial of Frieda Kliem’s murderer and the strategy of the defense, which was not so much a legal strategy as a way of turning the trial into a question of Frieda’s respectability as a middle-class woman. It interprets this trial—and the life of Frieda Kliem, more generally—as a microcosm of the large-scale confrontation between nineteenth-century society and the emerging twentieth-century world. It contends that identity, presented either authentically or as an illusion, became supremely relevant in the metropolis, where the ubiquity of strangers, new faces, and mysterious crimes shaped the way city people narrated the search for love and intimacy. And because enterprising outsiders like Frieda Kliem so flouted the established patterns of middle-class respectability, they remained on the outside looking in as German society clung to the nineteenth-century world that was crumbling in the face of a bewilderingly new twentieth-century one.

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