Harmony

Though melody is a trademark of Mozart, it is his harmonic choices which most characterize this movement as a whole. Within the progression of the opening two measures, one can find the germs of the rest of the piece. On first listen, the most prominent feature of this motive is in the melody, in which the dotted, lower-neighbor sequence rises from G to C, then rests on B. This is harmonized in exact rhythmic unison in the tenor voice a sixth below, providing a clear 5/3-6/4 voice-leading above the pedal bass. As already mentioned, this lower neighbor permeates the piece, though it is occasionally altered to include the chromatic neighbor. Upon delving into what makes this figure work, on the most local level, the progression can be analyzed thus: I-ii2-I-IV6/4-I. After leaving out the passing chords, as determined by the shape of the melody (and the placement on weak beats), the most prominent progression is I-IV6/4-I. Due to the inversion of the IV chord, this plagal cadence features the pedal-G in the bass, which, as we shall soon see, is a defining characteristic of the harmonic progressions of this movement, shown in figure 4.

It is reiterated in m. 3 with slight melodic variation, setting up the concept of weak cadences in repetition. The progression is repeated verbatim in mm. 7-9, due to this nearly identical consequent phrase. In the Transition into the Second Subject, the most notable progression is the accented V chord on the downbeat of m. 14, it too being underlined by a dissonant pedal-G; this is soon resolved on the next beat, making a I-V-I with a G-pedal – a kind of expansion and dissonant treatment of the opening I-IV-I.

The plagal progression is pursued in mm. 18-20 at the start of the Second Subject. In a rocking eighth-note figuration in the piano, the same 5/3-6/4 voice-leading remains. Though it starts similarly to the opening progression, it is expanded to include a passing dominant over a pedal-D (the new key-center). It can be analyzed as I-IV6/4-viio/Ped-D-I. Due to the placement of the viio on beat 3, the weakest of the meter, the more background progression still has the function of I-IV-I. It is interesting, too, that the melody reverses its consonant-dissonant order over this passing harmony by remaining with the same upper-neighbor line, as seen in mm. 19 and 23. The V2-I cadence at the end of the first phrase at m. 22, is weakened again by the inclusion of the pedal-D, as well as the ascending chromatic line in the soprano. Other notable harmonic functions include the weak V2-i6 cadence in m. 26 in E minor, further evidence of the weak-cadence prerogative. In m. 31, Mozart flirts with the parallel minor by using the octave B-flat in the bass, as well as a nod to the upper/lower chromatic figures that were foreshadowed in the opening measures. This minor-flirtation is to its further implications in the Retransition, but here serves to set-up the return to a strong closing statement in D. As mentioned in the section pertaining to melody, the Codetta is closed with the first strong cadence of the piece, a PAC with the melody doubled at the octave over a pedal-D, and containing a thick voicing in the bass of the piano.

What is most notable at the start of the Development is the lack of chordal figuration in the piano. It is instead permeated by melody in multiple octaves, though suggesting harmony through its two-part voice leading. While the opening phrase is nothing out of the ordinary, a simple I-V7-I6 progression in D, this is answered in mm. 39-40 with a startling melody, suggesting a I-bVI/ii-V6/ii-V/ii progression, a quick modulation to the key of E minor, as shown in figure 5.

What follows is a series of quick harmonic progressions, landing in the key-center of C major at m. 44, before a sudden modulation to G minor at the Retransition. The fuller connotation of the bass line at m. 31 is brought to its fruition at m. 56, as the melody (harmonized a 3rd below in the piano) supports a V7-Gr6-V cadence, perhaps the strongest half-cadence in the piece. Just as soon as this strong progression sets up the return of the home key, the piano’s slinky chromatic behavior in m. 57 negates a fanfare to celebrate the return of the opening material at the Recapitulation of m. 58.

While the nature of the Recapitulation necessitates a repetition of the opening material, it also requires an adjustment in terms of key, especially at the Transition material into the Second Subject. This alteration at m. 65 is interesting for its bass line, which not only keeps a diatonic motion in the home key, but it also doubles the opening ascending soprano line (G-A-B-C) now in diminution, serving to fortify the key and the opening material. This diminuted line is used again up a step in m. 66 and in opposite motion at m. 68, all of which makes for a stable, interesting, and intricately related way to transition to the Second Subject without fear of obfuscation of the home key. Again, the only difference in harmony, besides the large-scale modulation of the Exposition is in the final V7-I cadence, which, while it is stronger than most others in the piece, is diluted by the pedal-D and the voicing of the chords in the right hand of the piano (when the Codetta of the Exposition doubled the melody here). To me, this offers further evidence of the weak-cadence prerogative set up by the piece with the opening I-IV-I progression as well as the reiteration of the 4-3 dyad.

Mozart’s well-known saying that, “the music is not in the notes, but in the silence between,” it appropriate to say of the opening three measures which set such importance for the motivic, harmonic and formal organizations of the whole. The use of silence in these measures accents the I-IV-I progression which permeates the piece. As mentioned, the rhythm of the dotted figures so closely associated with the opening motive is a common glue which holds the movement together. Within the Exposition, one can find them in the First Subject and Codetta; within the Development, in the opening phrases and Retransition; and within the Recapitulation, in the First Subject and Codetta. In many ways, Mozart uses rhythm as a way of strengthening his formal intentions. Interesting rhythmic counterpoint in mm. 14-15 between the violin and the bass of the piano serves to heighten the excitement of the Transition. Added rhythmic figuration in the violin at mm. 22 and 25, add variation to the Second Subject as well as interest to the repetition. The syncopated rhythm which crosses bar lines in the violin line at mm. 29-30, accentuates the push to the first strong cadence of the Exposition, as does the unison rhythm of mm. 33-34.

In this same fashion, the sharp contrast of rhythms found in the Development serves to support the highly tumultuous change of keys. From the dotted figures in D, we move to 16th-note piano figures in E minor, switching to 16th-note figures in the violin during the C major modulation. The 16th’s give way to the dotted figures at the Retransition, though the tenor voice of the piano continues this motion with a D-repetition in mm. 52-53. It is also notable that the eighth-note rhythm of the bass line in these measures doubles the melody. In the Recapitulation, the 32nd-note figuration of the piano of mm. 61-63 (and violin at m. 63) gives weight to the return of the home key and interest to its repetition. The same rhythmic interests in the Second Theme and Codetta of the Exposition, remain for the Recapitulation as well, though the role of register gives different dimensions to the exact rhythmic repetition.

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