Program, Tonality, and Sonata Deformation in Leopoldo Miguéz’s Symphonic Poems

Abstract

The aim of this text is to address Leopoldo Miguéz (1850–1902) approach to sonata form in his three symphonic poems. Each one of these works presents a different approach to the rhetorical musical discourse of sonata form and a specific “deformation” of the form. The normative model of sonata form to be considered is presented by Hepokoski and Darcy (2006) and by comparing each one of Miguéz’s works with this model we may identify his approach to the form. In addition, characteristics of tonal and thematic compositional practice of the late 19th-century German music such as double-tonic complex and thematic transformation may be observed in these works, suggesting that Miguéz was aware of and willingly adopted such procedures in his music.