Topical Content in Mozart's Keyboard Sonatas

Author(s): Leonard G. Ratner

Source: Early Music, Vol. 19, No. 4, Performing Mozart's Music I (Nov., 1991), pp. 615-619
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3127924
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LeonardG. Ratner

Topical

content

in

Mozart's

I shall consider here the role of topical content in the

rhetoricof Classicmusic, using Mozart'skeyboardsonatasby wayof illustration.The term 'topic'here signifiesa
subjectto be incorporatedin a discourse.A topic can be
a style,a type, a figure,a processor a plan of action.Topics can be intra-musical-elements of the language of
music-or extra-musical taken from other media of
expression.The connectionbetweenthese two aspectsof
topical content has a long history.
Music, in its relationship to the temporal artspoetry,dramaand choreography-has been something
of a chameleon,if not an actualparasite.Throughoutits
historyWesternmusic has repeatedlybeen taken up by
the language and theatricalarts as a means of intensification,to elevateand sustainthe effectof the word or
gesture. But as music joins with word or gesture it
graduallyincorporatesits own syntax,its idiomaticelaborationsto the point thatthe word or gestureis absorbed
into the playof musicalrhetoric,especiallyin extensions
and elaborations.The actualpresenceof the 'host' (that
is, the word or gesture)disappears,but its configuration
remains in the contour and the form of the music-a
processcomparableto the shapethat is given to the finished jewel in the lost wax process.
This back-and-forthprocess, in which music is borrowed and then takes over,finallyto be simplifiedonce
again when it becomes too elaborate,has taken place a
numberof times-in plainsong,in medievalpolyphony,
in the Renaissancemotet and madrigal,and in Italian
opera of the 18th and 19th centuries. These processes
bespeak apt connections between music and other
media of expression,both in syntacticways and in the
sense of what is being communicated. The influences
work in both directions-from the image, gesture or
idea to musical syntax and vice versa. That is, musical
syntax can enhance the word or gesture;on the other
hand, the suggestion or the implication of the image,
word or gesturecan give colour and enrichedcontent to
musical syntax.
The syntacticalmake-up of Classicmusic lends itself
aptly to the interplayof musical processes and topical
references.In the Classicstyle,the precisetrim of cadential formulas, rhythmic groupings, clear articulations,
transparenttextures and orderly key schemes allow a

keyboard

sonatas

composerto etch sharplywith figuresthat areneatlyand

closely spaced, to spin out a rhetoric that is essentially
comic and witty in its underlyingtone. This attitude is
embodied particularlyin the rapid shifts of topic, of
affective stance, that are so often heard in late 18thcentury music. Wilhelm Fischer characterizedClassic
music as incorporatingcontraston the smallestscale.'A
biting comment on an aria of Paisiello in 1778is ad-

dressedto the prevailingItalianpenchantfor mixing

topics.Thewriter,Goudar,says:
I haveanalysedan ariaof thefamousPaisiello.I founda great
and fieryimaginationin the firstphrase;in the second,this
coolednoticeably;
in thethirdhe introduced
a disorderly,
janmodulation;
glingnoise;in thefourthhe madean unpleasant
andthe fifthwasentirelyfromanotherworld;the restwasin
the usual Italianfashion,and upon a very fine text by
Metastasio.2

A widerangeof referential
materialswasavailableto
Classiccomposers.Thesematerialsformedpartof a
musicallanguageunderstood
bycomposers,
performers
andlisteners,andconstituted
a vastthesaurusof'words'
and 'phrases'fromwhichanyonecoulddraw.In this
thesaurus
wefindeverylevelof dignity,fromthehighest
to theloweststyles;everylocale,fromthe churchto the
fromdescriptive
countryside;
everydegreeof specificity,
(suchas Turkishmusic,battlemusicand
pictorialisms
pastoralmusettes),to characteristic
dances, general.
affectivestances,andevensmallfiguresthathadgestural
profile.
Thesespectraof associationsrepresentedthe 18thcenturytrendtowardcodification,towardthe ordering
of materialsandprocesses,puttingtheminto clearand
accessiblearrangements
for readyuse and immediate
understanding.
Amongthe codeslistedin criticaland
theoreticalwritingswe findrhetoricalsystems,affective
stances,locales of performance,degreesof dignity,
characteristic
styles,genres,keyandchordrelationships,
the identification
poeticmetres,and,verysignificantly,
and explanationof ornamentalfiguresthatthemselves
hadgesturalandmotivicrelevance.
Thetheatrewasthe chiefvenuefor the matchingof
word and gesturewith tone. For dramatictruthsuch
Musicwithoutwordsmodelmatchingwasobligatory.
led itselfto a greatextentuponmusicof the theatreEARLY

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615

arias, dances and ensembles-even recitatives.Edward

Dent wrote of this trend:
WhattheGermans
wereaimingatin theirharpsichord
sonatas
(thesamecouldapplyto fortepiano
music)wasthereproduction for domesticconsumptionof those wonderfulItalian
ariaswhicheveryItaliansoulcouldhearasoftenashelikedbut
whichrarelycamethe wayof the musiclovernorthof the
Alps.3
Dent's reference to keyboard performance can be
appliedto the rolethatthe fortepianoplayedin the life of
the later18thcentury.The fortepiano,a domesticinstrument, was a completeensemblein its own right.It often
servedas a surrogatefor the largeensemblesof the theatre,churchand chamber.It broughtthe greateroutside
world of music into the home, but did so with a difference. Whateverthe tone qualityof a specificfortepiano
may have been, it did not match the richness,the fullness, the sustaining powers of voices or orchestral
instruments. Thus, it had to compensate with lively
actionfor whatit lackedin full body or sound.When the
fortepiano takes up stances that are modelled on theatricalattitudes,it tends to touch upon them brieflyand
succinctly,creating(particularlyin the music of Mozart)
a kaleidopscopiccontinuity.The effect is analogousto
cartoon sketching as contrasted with full-colour,
filled-in art.
This flexibility implies a degree of control over the
declamationby the keyboardperformerwhich surpasses
that of performersin ensembles.The fortepianoplayer
truly rules the action, is answerableonly to himself or
herselfin mattersof interpretation-tempo, dynamics,
ornamentationand nuances.Thus, the fortepianowas a
quintessentiallocale for the play of topic.4
In many movements of his keyboardsonatasMozart
delineates a specific topic in the first few bars. Apart
from the minuets that are designatedin the titles-the
second movement of the Sonata in E flat major,K282,
and the second movement of the Sonata in A major,

scintillating,busy mannerof the Italianopera overture.

Also in an orchestralvein, the first movement of the
Sonatain C minor, K457,suggestsa symphonyin a serious vein as it alternatesbold tutti figures with legato
song-like figuresin patheticstyle;perhapsthis opening
phrase group became a model for a similar opening
statement in the JupiterSymphonywritten four years
later.A few measureslater in this movement the foretepiano hints at a solo concerto layout as it answersthe
opening tutti figure with a tirata in the brilliant style.
The opening measures of the sonata in E flat major,
K282, evokethe styleand textureof a wind serenade.Distributed throughout the sonatas are gigues, German
waltzes,contredanses,sarabandes,an occasionalpolonaise or bourree,passagesin the singingstyle,the brilliant
style, the stile legatoand the fantasiastyle-all of these
well known stancesor styles in Mozart'stime.
Further,we can include specific figures-appoggiaturas, tiratas, arpeggios, suspensions, turns, repeated
notes etc.-in the theatricalclimate generatedby the
constantpresenceof topicalcontent.These shortfigures
take on topical characteras postures, as gestures that
carryaffectivevalue.Theyenterthe discourseas subjects
that surroundthe more sharplydelineatedtopics.
In ex. 1, the exposition of the first movement of
Mozart'sSonatain D major,K284,there many shifts of
topic, more than 20. No topic is given more than a few
bars;each is sharplyetched,set in high reliefby juxtapositions and by contrastsin textureand melody.The topics themselves are drawn from various parts of the
thesaurus-scoring, melodic styles and figures,characteristicbass progressions,and ornamentation.
The relevance of the topical component in Classic
musicalrhetorichas severalaspects.Forthe composer,it
is partof the stock-in-trade,materialto be identifiedand
selected.Forthe listenerand the scholar,topical content
presents a kind of informal iconography-figures that
havedirector symbolicmeaning.Forthe performer,the
movein
first
the
minuet
can
recognition and projection of topical content is of the
K331-we
style
recognize
ment of the Sonata in F major, K280, and the second greatestimportance.An awarenessof referentialimplimovement of the Sonatain C major,K545.Othertopics cations can have a profound influence upon decisions
(to name a few) include the gavotteof the third move- for performance.Figuresand motives would be sharply
ment of the Sonatain D major,K284, the sicilianoof the profiledand subtly nuanced.They would be set against
firstmovementof the Sonatain A major,K331, the hunt- each other in relief by the performer's control of
ing fanfarethat begins the Sonatain D major,K576and dynamics, tempo, articulationand emphasis to mark
Turkishmarchesin the Sonatasin A minor and A major, criticalnotes and figuresfor specialattention.The result
is an articulateperformance.
K310 and K331, respectively.
Attentionto topical content can also throw a striking
Somewhatless specific,but still stronglysuggestiveof
their topical content are the first movements of the light upon Mozart'scompositional ways. For example,
Sonatas in D major, K284 and K311, which take up the in ex. i the manychangesof stancearemanagedwith the
616

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Ex. 1 Mozart, Sonata in D, K284,i, exposition

Allegro

singing style

orchestralunison as a concertotutti

brilliantstyle

murkybass

singing style

trommel-bass
orchestral tutti; concitato

.Aj

-_

march

singing style; orna-

mentl sile
tr

t
.,,

mentalstile legato

egao

billint

tyl

brilliantstyle

chaconne-type bass

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,.--P

tutti-solo

rubato

I 1I1

rubato

tutti-solo

brilliant style

recitative oblig6

fanfare

singing style

fanfare

singing style

unison
orchestral

coupsd'archet

singingstyle

------

-z -i,

--

fanfare

618

'-----

--TI-

"..--

orchestral unison

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_-:L

greatest deftness and skill. Mozart weaves threads of

connection that link contrastedsections and figuresby
single notes, by overlapsin cadentialaction, by shifts of
stance within cadential formulas. He veers again and
again at surprisingtangents, but always turns upon a
point of leverage between the juxtaposed topics. The
support for such local contrasts is maintained by the
long-rangeharmonicand period trajectoriesthat he and
his contemporariesused as frameworksfor local action.
Topicalreferences,precise as they may be, are essentiallyconnotative;they aresuggestivewithin the context
of an ongoing discourse. Once recognized, they add a
final touch of imageryto the coherence and design of
tonal patterns.In this process, Mozart,with his incredible skills and his ability to incorporateand synthesize
elements from the various styles of 18th-centurymusic,
was the greatestmaster.This aspect of his style calls for
fullertreatmentthat it has hithertoreceivedin performance practicestudies and in performanceitself.
LeonardG. Ratneris professoremeritusof StanfordUniversity.He is the author of Classic Music: Expression,
Form, and Style (1980) and Romantic Music: Sound and

Syntax (forthcoming).

Discussion
I would not in any way contradict
main
and
your
important point about the evocative
nature of Mozart'smusicallanguage,and our sense that
in these sonataswe are confronting a microcosm of his
art.But I want to expressa concernaboutthe matterof a
topic being confinedto a few barsand about the impression that might be conveyed that we are listening to a
whole stream of motifs without taking note of the fact
that Mozartof coursebinds all these up into largerunits
that havea unity of tone and an involvedstructuralintegration. If you look at the section up to bar 21 in this
movement there is a steady and subtle hand bringing
together all the units you describeinto a largerwhole.
WILLIAM KINDERMAN

suggest, and you have made the mattereminentlyclear.

But one thing disturbs me: whereasmost of your topic
definitionsarequite specific,therearemanyyou referto
as simply'singingstyle',in spiteof the factthatthey seem
to me quite disparatein character.
LEONARD RATNER I'm using 'singing style' in the sense
used by the theorists of the time; and I should say that
this sonata is among the most compact in terms of the
topics it uses. In other sonatas a single topic may be
extendedfor 12or 13bars;it'snot the length that matters
but the notion of characterin the writing.

I think it is absolutelyessentialthat performancesof music of this period should communicate

the surfacetension createdby details,whose purposeful
opposition is neverthelessintegratedinto a whole. Now
this is certainlynot limited to these characterdistinctions you havelaid out, which I find enormouslyhelpful;
it applies also to the articulatorysurface of the piece.
This goes backto GeorgeBarth'spaper,and is the whole
problem with the 19th-centuryeditors putting all those
slurs into their editions. Precisely in the interests of
stressingthe organic unity of the composition, the surface was dispensedwith becauseit was too inconvenient
with its articulations,too lively and contradictory.You
have to hear the greatershapes, of course, but you also
have to integratethe detailwith all its apparentbuilt-in
contradictions.
ROBERT LEVIN

'W. Fischer, Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, iii (1915), p.25

2
H. C. Koch, Journal der Tonkunst (1795),
p.197
xiv
3E. Dent, Sammelbiindeder internationalenMusikgesellschaft,
(1912-13), P509
4 C.P.E.Bachled the way in exploitingthe freedomand flexibilityof
the keyboardperformerto the extremein his SonatasundFantasiasfiir
Kennerund Liebhaber(1779-85).He takesadvantageof the solo role of
the performerto juxtapose the boldest contrasts in topical content.
Bach'skeyboard music bears witness to the hegemony of the performer;it displaysmore flexibilityand unpredictabilitythan the music
of any other major composer.

LEONARD RATNER I don't see any problem in

integrating
what I have to say with what you have to say:you are
simply taking the topics and assimilatingthem into an
analyticalframework.But thesebasic materialshavenot
in my experiencebeen fully understood and expressed
by performers,and it's performanceI'm interested in
ratherthan analysis.
MALCOLM BILSON

I've alwaysthought alongthe lines you

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