Show 206: Form and Structure of Larger Musical Works

This was an abbreviated show of about an hour, but the topic is important, even if we did not go into it in great depth.

Writing a short piece of music is not hard: you think up a tune, polish it up a little, put in some harmony, and you’re done.  When you want to write a major piece of music (I don’t mean to suggest that you listeners want to do this, but it helps to look at the problem from the point of view of the composer) structure raises it’s —not necessarily ugly— head.


Introduction

An explanation of what we're trying to do with this episode.
Handel: Concerti Grosso in B Flat Op 3 - 7 - Gavotte

This is in the form of a set of variations, of which the first is in AABB form.
Boccherini: Minuet from Quintet in A

A typical minuet and trio in ternary form.
Mozart: Serenade In G ("Eine kleine Nachtmusik") 1. Allegro

A brief look at "Sonata Form", more appropriately called First Movement Form.
Bottom of the hour Tune: Waltz

Mozart: Serenade in G, 2:  Romanze

We're playing all four movements of the Eine kleine Nachtmusik, because our topic is the structure of an extended work.  The Romanze is a tiny little rondo.
Mozart: Serenade in G, 3:  Menuetto

A minuet and trio.
Mozart: Serenade in G, 4:  Rondo

Beethoven: Symphony No 5 in C minor, Movements 3, 4

One solution to the problem of unifying a multi-movement work: a musical bridge.
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Andante

The same idea, implemented by Mendelssohn.
Beethoven: Symphony No 6 in F major "Pastoral" 1. Allegro non troppo

Programme music is what results when you use a literary theme to unify several movements.
Bach: The Art of Fugue BWV1080, Unfinished Contrapunctus 20
Bach's last opus to be published is a collection of fugues all on the same subject, or each of which features the same subject in some form.  We play a snippet of Contrapunctus 1, and the entirety of Contrapunctus 20, which is unfinished.


Archie