Improvisation Exercise (Mozart, Sonata K.

545/i)

Hepokoski and Darcy (2006) point out that the ‘Exposition’ of a first movement ‘Type 3’ Sonata Form
normally has a ‘Medial Caesura’. This ‘MC’ is a rhetorically emphasized mid-point that divides the
Exposition and marks the arrival of a new key. There are many ways to reach an MC. Most sonatas have a
single MC while a few have a double or avoid it altogether. In this exercise, we shall learn a very basic
method to reach a single MC based on K.545. Mozart’s comment that this sonata is ‘for beginners’ (für
Anfänger) does not just concern ease of execution. It also means that its underlying syllabic thread, its
framework for improvisation, is very basic: easy enough for beginners to grasp.

In keeping with Wilhelm Fischer’s ‘ritornello structure’ (1915), one of the most basic patterns for an
expanded musical unit was a three-part progression: theme (motive or ‘motivation’ for what follows),
continuation, and cadence; or, more intuitively, beginning, middle, and end. This basic structure could be
expanded and varied in countless ways. For instance, the theme could be divided into multiple parts, the
continuation could be repeated or varied, and the cadence padded out with repetitions and false arrivals. For
our beginner’s sonata, we shall keep it simple.

First, sing the three parts as shown below: (1) a ‘soprano cadence’ theme; (2) a ‘Prinner’ continuation; and
(3) a half cadence.

ALTERNATIVES: The fa-mi-fa soprano cadence could be replaced with, for instance, a do-re-mi. Both are
common bases for themes. The ‘Prinner’ continuation could start on the other hexachord of the key –
E-D-C-B/la-sol-fa-mi – in which case it would end on the dominant rather than the tonic. It could also be
substituted by a Fonte, Monte, or sequential pattern such as ‘up a fourth down a third’. The cadence could
end on mi as a weak imperfect close in the tonic, on re as a half cadence, or on do as a full perfect cadence.
Because this improvisation maps on to the first part of a sonata exposition leading to an MC, it closes here
on a half cadence, re.

Next, try out some ‘pure phrasing’ on the theme: arranging its unembellished notes into musical phrases.
Here are a few examples:
Pure phrasing is easier if one decides upon a particular verse- or step- ‘rhythm’ in advance. Let’s apply a
common version of a five-syllable rhythm: one--two-three-FOUR---five. It is possible to repeat the rhythm
unchanged, but it is far more musical to vary it in some way. Here, the continuation is repeated at half speed
(augmentation), as a way to expand the central section, then at double speed (diminution) to accelerate
towards the cadence. This speeding up is a very common feature in eighteenth-century music. It serves to
impart momentum to the phrase.

Once you have decided upon a particular ‘pure phrasing’, the next step is to ‘speak’ the notes with
expressive accent; in other words, to embellish them. For instruction, we will turn to a published melody by
Mozart that uses this same melodic thread. First, here is Mozart’s own ‘pure phrasing’ in K.545:

It is extremely clever and worthy of closer inspection. It shows how to ‘modulate’ from a five- to a four-
syllable rhythm. Note that the first two phrases balance each other by using the same five-syllable rhythm.
But the third augments it and flattens out its nuances. From bar 5 it takes on the appearance of a basic lesson
in even notes, as if the maestro were repeating the melodic pattern la-sol-fa-mi slowly and emphatically for a
struggling student! This expanded third phrase seems to preserve the five-syllable rhythm, but by ending on
re it sets up a metric ambiguity: is this re the final note of an established five-syllable rhythm or the first
note of a new rhythm? The last three bars provide the answer. The pace is doubled and the half cadence on
re is joyously affirmed as the strong first beat of a new four-syllable rhythm. (The original five-syllable
rhythm returns, by the way, slightly varied in the ‘Secondary Theme’ that follows).
Below is Mozart’s finished melody with the syllable-notes added beneath the staff. The theme is
embellished with a simple arpeggio; the continuation by a consonant leap of a fourth and a written-out
appoggiatura to fa. The expanded repeat of the continuation is embellished with octave scales, like a finger
exercise in the brilliant style. The compressed repetition in m. 10 cleverly maintains the semiquaver rhythm
but to a faster underlying melodic movement, thus driving the melody towards cadence through the new
four-beat rhythm.