RhetoricalClosure in theFirstMovement ofSchubert'sQuartet inCmajor, D. 46: A Dialogue withDeformation

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of parametric non‐congruence as it affects the articulation of closure in the first movement of Schubert's String Quartet in C major, D. 46. This movement displays two formal irregularities which render it problematic in relation to sonata theory: first, the presentation of new thematic material in the exposition does not correspond with a modulation to the dominant key, and second, the recapitulation of the primary theme commences over an active bass progression. As such, D. 46/i provides an apt setting for an appraisal of how effective sonata theory is in the treatment and understanding of closure when the very elements which ought to express it are ostensibly incompatible. The distinction I draw between tonal (syntactic) and rhetorical (semantic) closure in this article (founded in the work of Kofi Agawu, among others) aims at demonstrating that the adherence to a hierarchical perspective of form in which tonality dominates is of little service when examining a work in which local cadential closure is persistently evaded. Ultimately, my analysis shall illustrate the through‐composed design of this movement and, in so doing, question the unrelenting reliance on cadence and contrapuntal closure as delineators of sonata space.

Perishable Fiber Artifacts and Paleoindians: New Implications

“…West of the Mississippi River, the 15 fiber artifacts recovered from Zones C1 and C2 at Pendejo Cave, New Mexico, were once thought to be among the oldest perishable artifacts ever recovered in the New World (Adovasio and Hyland, 1993;Hyland, 1997;Hyland andAdovasio, 1995, 1998). Unfortunately, recent direct AMS assays suggest that most, if not all, of the Zones C1 and C2 perishable fiber artifacts are of intrusive Archaic origin (Hyland et al, 1998).…”

Steven Vande Moortele, Julie Pedneault‐Deslauriers and Nathan John Martin, eds, Formal Functions in Perspective: Essays on Musical Form from Haydn to Adorno (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, and Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, 2015). vii + 456pp. £75 (hb.). ISBN 9781580465182.Markus Neuwirth and Pieter Bergé, eds, What is a Cadence? Theoretical and Analytical Perspectives on Cadences in the Classical Repertoire (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2015). 346pp. €45 (pb.). ISBN 9789462700154.

“…As the title suggests, the collection places Caplin's theory in perspective by three main means: first, by applying it to repertoire beyond the instrumental music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, extending it in terms of chronology (to Schoenberg and Leibowitz), genre (in discussing 'Lieder and arias, symphonies and concerti, opera and chamber music', p. 4) and geographical centre (from Paris to Milan and beyond); secondly, by bringing it 'into dialogue with other music theories' (p. 4) such as the work of Janet Schmalfeldt (who provides a thoughtful afterword), Sonata Theory and Robert Gjerdigen's schema theory; and thirdly, by its fluid application and extension of Caplin's terminology, which is one of the volume's most refreshing and welcome accomplishments. This is of course not the first time that the theory has been applied to repertoire beyond the corpus of Caplin's original study, nor the first time that its central concerns have been complemented by other approaches (see in particular Riley 2010, Horton 2011, Martin and Vande Moortele 2014and Hyland 2009, but they are here brought together within a single volume.…”

“…His terminological battle with Caplin is clear (see p. 104, n. 35): Burstein is willing to admit the 'destabilizing' (p. 97) effect of an inverted dominant but argues that this can be 'sufficiently counterbalanced by other elements that more solidly assert the dominant harmony's closing role' (p. 97). I proposed a similar attention to rhetorical features in my analysis of the first movement of Schubert's early Quartet in C, D. 46 (Hyland 2009), in which the tonal and rhetorical parameters suggest different readings of the point of recapitulation. The half cadence may remain an 'analytic fiction', but Burstein's willingness to take into account what he calls the 'surrounding phrase-structural context' (p. 105) is certainly an auspicious step towards a more nuanced narrative and, together with Sanguinetti's chapter, discussed above, is indicative of formal analysis's growing recognition of the importance of the musical surface -or, better, its acknowledgement of the significance of context to the musical function (and hermeneutic potential) of specific chords.…”

Mutual Deformity: Ignaz Moscheles's Seventh and William Sterndale Bennett's Fourth Piano Concertos

“…Hepokoski and Darcy (), p. 23. On the larger issue of the conflicting roles played by primary (tonal) and secondary (thematic, textural, and gestural) parameters in the articulation of form, see Anson‐Cartwright () and also Hyland (), who explores Sonata Theory's relative inattention to what she terms ‘parametric non‐congruence’ (p. 112) in the articulation of closure.…”