Le 1er juillet 2017
de 14h00 à 14h30
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
amphithéâtre 4
Séance - Approaches to Schubert's Sonata Forms
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : Gabriel Navia
Schubert gradually incorporated several non-normative procedures into his compositional style throughout his career, transforming the norms and expectations defined by the Classical tradition. Among these are his tonally over-determined transitions; i.e., transitions that struggle to leave the tonic area, introducing formal and expressive complications to the work’s unfolding.
Through the lens of Sonata Theory, this paper examines the impact of tonally over-determined TRs on the function, perception, and meaning of the MC in Schubert’s sonata forms, demonstrating how TR’s penchant for the tonic area may ultimately define the MC’s formal and expressive roles. The study is organized in four categories that are defined by the position, function, and strength of the I:PACs articulated within pre-MC space. The first involves transitions that fail to leave the tonic, closing with a I:PAC MC. In the second, a I:PAC (ending P) is followed by a “defective” passage that can only be retrospectively reinterpreted as TR after the articulation of the MC. In the third category, a first TR-module, exhibiting clear transitional rhetoric, ends with a I:PAC and is directly followed by a rhetorically weak module (TR2) that eventually manages to secure the MC. Lastly, the fourth category considers transitions that begin with an extended tonic prolongation and end with a quick and abrupt modulation.
The conclusion shows that the formal and expressive effects released by Schubert’s tonally over-determined TRs extend well beyond their realization and, in most cases, involve the MC as protagonist.
