Le 28 juin 2017
de 14h30 à 15h00
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
salle 3203
Séance - Issues of Rhythm and Metre
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : Joseph Siu
Building on the idea of Schoenberg and Ratz that the subordinate theme is more loosely organized than the tight-knit main theme, Caplin (1998) described many loosening techniques that are commonly found in the subordinate theme of the classical sonatas. However, in his classification of formal units within the tight-knit/loose continuum, Caplin did not recognize rhythm and meter as one of the possible criteria to contribute to the looseness of the subordinate theme. In this paper, I propose a reexamination of the loosely-knit subordinate theme in the classical style from the perspective of phrase rhythm.
Phrase rhythm, as defined by Rothstein (1989), is the musical phenomenon that embraces both hypermeter and phrase grouping. In several recent studies, theorists have suggested that phrase rhythm indeed holds an important role in the articulation of formal structures. Drawing from the analytical techniques developed by Rothstein, Temperley (2003), and Ng (2012), my paper will report a corpus study on all the sonata form first movements in the piano sonatas written by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven from 1760 to 1799. From my initial analyses, there are four main types of phrase rhythmic strategies that the classical masters utilized to enhance the looseness of the subordinate theme: 1.) the use of non-duple hypermeter; 2.) the insertion of some extra measures as anacrusis; 3.) the use of end-accented phrases; and 4.) the placement of strong hyperbeats on local dominant harmony.
