A Tritone Key Relationship - The Bridge Sections of The Slow Movement of Mozart's 39th Symphony

A Tritone Key Relationship: The Bridge Sections of the Slow Movement of Mozart's
39th Symphony
Author(s): Eric Wen
Source: Music Analysis , Mar., 1986, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Mar., 1986), pp. 59-84
Published by: Wiley
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/854341
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.com/stable/854341?seq=1&cid=pdf-
reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Wiley is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Music Analysis
This content downloaded from

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
ERIC WEN
A TRITONE KEY RELATIONSHIP: THE BRIDGE

SECTIONS OF THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF
MOZART'S 39TH SYMPHONY
One of the striking tonal events in the slow movement of M

Symphony (K. 543) is the appearance of the B minor theme at b.
to being tonally distant from the movement's tonic of Ab major
occurs in a key transposed a tritone away from its initial statemen
movement (b. 30ff.). Such a transposition always provokes intere
in works of the late eighteenth century, where tritone relations
What is significant here is that the B minor theme appears in th
recapitulation, and not a development.2
In fact, the form of this Andante con moto is a 'sonata without
comprising no more than an exposition which moves tonally
dominant and a recapitulation which presents the material at
exposition back in the tonic. Heinrich Schenker considered t
classical formal design separately from the sonata and described
form, embodying two separate key areas (the A and B section
exposition and the recapitulation.3 According to these designation
outline of the movement appears as follows:
bars key
EXPOSITION A 1-27 Ab I
bridge 28-37
(with theme
in F minor)
B 38-60 E6 V
transition 60-7
RECAPITULATION A' 68-95 Ab I
bridge 96-107
(with theme
in B minor)
B' 108-32 Ab I
transition 132-44
CODA 144-61 Ab I
MUSIC ANALYSIS 5:1, 1986 59

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
From this it may be seen that the tritone relationship F m

with the appearance of a distinct theme in the bridge
movements, of course, the bridge passage of the expositio
connects the two contrasting key areas of the tonic and d
the recapitulation these two areas, being presented in t
tonal events of the bridge to be altered accordingly.)
Charles Rosen has described a bridge section in a
elaborate recompositions such as occurs in this movem
development section',4 and Stanley Sadie has referred to t
as having 'a developmental elaboration of the exposition'.'
that events in recomposed bridge sections can be com
characteristics of developments, it is important to distingu
function of a bridge in a recapitulation and a real develop
a special role within a movement's design as a whole, a
events which may occur within it serve a larger tonal plan
for such events derives from something inherent in th
remarks:
To effect an agreement between general concepts and specific details is one

of the most difficult tasks of human understanding. In order to reduce the
world of appearances to only a few concepts, knowledge must seek general
truths. At the same time, one must examine the particulars to the last detail,
in all their secrets, if one wishes to grasp correctly these general concepts
which are, after all, supported by particulars.6
In accordance with this statement, which reveals a fundamental principle of

Schenker's thought, this essay will discuss the meaning of the two bridge
passages in the Andante con moto of Mozart's 39th Symphony in relation, on the
one hand, to the movement's large-scale tonal structure, and, on the other
hand, to the elaboration of prominent foreground motivic details.7
The A Section
The opening A section is articulated in a three-part form: a (bs 1-8) - b (bs 9-

19) - a' (bs 20-7). The outer parts of this form are in the tonic, whereas the
middle part elaborates the dominant. In the a part, the two phrases of the
opening theme are presented in the antecedent-consequent construction of a
parallel period. The antecendent ends on the dominant, but the consequent
cadences in the dominant, instead of returning to close in the tonic. The
tonicization of the dominant in the consequent is made most subtly through the
raising of the fourth scale-degree in the ascending scalar motion from ab'
to eb'2 in bs 6-7.8 The leading-note motion D-Eb that results will make a
striking reappearance in the recapitulation.
So much for the large-scale form of this section. What of the details? Ex. 1
shows how the primary motivic idea of the movement, the opening neighbour
60 MUSIC ANALYSIS 5:1, 1986

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
SLOW MOVEMENT OF MOZART'S 39th SYMPHONY
note motion Eb-F-Eb, is embedded within an ascending fourth, which also

features prominently throughout the movement:
Ex. 1
eb-f eb
- - -
l ir k . i ..
-t] " Rh
This ascending fourth recurs in an expanded form ov

this section, supported by the overall harmonic
Eb major (Ex. 2a):
Ex. 2a
4th
Vln 2 Vln 1 Vln 2 Vln 1 Vln 2
Eb: Is b I
Ex. 2b
eb- e-f e6
Two things emerge from this at on

over Eb in b. 14 through a m
voice; this seventh transforms the
an applied dominant which leads t
Secondly, the potential parallel fift
are avoided by the alternations of th

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
voice-leading. These alternations, which provide an ex

Ubergreifen technique,9 represent an expansion of th
eb2 in bs 2-3 of the opening theme.
Example 2b shows how the potential danger of paralle
inner voices and bass in the step progression from IV to V
the unfolding of descending thirds in the top voice down a
These thirds are decorated by lower neighbour notes,
decoration of fZ by e42 implies a long-range chrom
E -F from the eb2 reiterated by the first violin on the
12 and 14. This f2 descends to eb2, completing an exp
the neighbour-note motive in which the chromati
embedded. The registral transfer in b. 15 is thus significan
neighbour-note motive within the broad linear progres
fourth from Bb to Eb. As in the opening theme, the
neighbour note is embedded within that of the ascending
Mozart's concern with these notes is taken still further.
cadence in b. 16, the chromatic motion E&-E?-F reapp
of b. 18. The motion to f2 produces a ninth over the bass,
to transform the tonicised Eb harmony, elaborated in the b
into a dominant ninth chord of the original tonic, Ab
above Eb in the bass resolves to e6' in b. 20, with
principal theme. Thus another statement of the neigh
emerges in these two bars, and the relationship betwee
figure and the chromatic motive now becomes explicit (Ex
Ex. 3
E6 --F E6
e6-(S-f e6-f -- e6 e6-Q- e6
" L I)
F E6
The a' part begins in b. 20, and, as in the a part, the

presented in the antecedent-consequent construction of a p
time, however, the two phrases are in a true antecedent-co
the consequent cadences in the tonic. What is unusual is
now begins in Ab minor instead of major. The minor mode
end of the antecedent, but its continuation through to the
phrase creates a most surprising and dramatic effect. ? Ye
earlier concerns, for the neighbour-note decoration of Eb,
opening theme, is now cast in the minor mode, and th
emerges as a result. The statement of the neighbour not

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
relates back to the chromatic succession Eb-E?-F presented in the b part;

Fb is an enharmonic reinterpretation of the chromatic passing note E?
arising between Eb and F earlier. The opening neighbour-note figure
decorating the fifth scale-degree has thus been transformed from major to
minor in two successive steps; in the b part of this section the tonal space
between Eb and F (S and 8) is filled out with a chromatic passing note, E?
(? S), and later, in the a' part, this chromatic passing note is stabilized and
enharmonically reinterpreted as Fb (b 6) (see Ex. 3).
Immediately following the minor statement of the opening idea, the major
mode is re-established by the appearance of the third and sixth scale-degrees in
their major form: c2 in the first violins (b. 26), and F in the bass (b. 25). This
bass F, which descends to Eb in b. 26, echoes the neighbour-note figure once
again, 'correcting' the minor statement of the neighbour-note motive,
Fb-Eb, presented in the first violins at b. 24 (see Ex. 3).
One curious feature in the antecedent and consequent phrases of this opening
A section is that there is no melodic closure. Usually in an antecedent- consequent
relationship of two phrases the structural technique of interruption occurs." In
this procedure, both the harmonic and melodic components of the fundamental
progression are interrupted at the penultimate point in the first phrase before
being restated until completion in the second. The consequent phrase thus re-
articulates and completes both the melodic and harmonic progression left
incomplete in the antecedent. In the parallel periods of the A section in this
movement, however, the harmonic, but not the melodic, structure of
interruption occurs. Scale degree S, Eb, is retained in the top voice throughout
the A section. As we shall see, Mozart will address himself to this issue in the coda.
The F minor bridge theme

The transition from the A section into the F minor bridge theme, which begins
in b. 30, brings in another statement of the chromatic motive. The eb2 left
hovering in the first violins at the end of the A section in b. 27 moves through
e2 in the clarinets to f2 in the first violins (Ex. 4):
Ex. 4
L Ale
-. F.F A
sitt
The break in the flute part between bs 30 and 31 highlights the motion of
e3 to f3 registrally, and further emphasizes the connection back from the
eb2 at the end of the A section. In this passage the original pitches of the
chromatic motive, Eb-E?-F, recur despite their different tonal context.

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
According to Carl Schachter:
Many benefits accrue to a piece in which an important mo

persists untransposed through changes of key. For listeners w
the familiar pitches serve as a measure of the tonal distance tha
traversed, for any change is best measured in relation to a cons
In the bridge passage connecting the A and B section a

exchange occurs. Scale degrees I and I of the Ab majo
chromatically inflected to produce an augmented-sixth chor
dominant of Eb major at the beginning of the B section i
F minor bridge theme appears as an intermediate step in the
spanning a descending sixth within the voice-exchange (Ex. 5
descent down a sixth from Ab in the bass would continue to
the register of the cellos and basses, the bass of the augmen
transferred up an octave in b. 35:
Ex. 5a Ex. 5b
W6
6 1.
0,1,7,t,-
1i0%* - !
In the larger context of Ab major the F min

expansion of the submediant key area. One of th
function as an intermediate step between I and
of a sixth.'3 In this particular passage, howe
between the tonic of the A section and the au
Though the outer voices of the augmented- sixt
derived from chromatic alterations of the first an
more usual intermediate chord in the arpeggiati
an augmented-sixth chord is a V.14 The VI harm
arpeggiation because of the awkward leap of a
which results in the bass (i.e. Ab-Eb-Cb
Mozart specifically uses VI as a passing har
augmented-sixth chords in this passage, howeve
statement in the top voice of the neighbour-n
motive which embellishes it (Ex. 6):

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
Ex. 6
Eb - F Eb
Pant,
Ab" I I I
The awkward skip of a

the foreground by the
between the VI and au
is preceded by an appli
the bass in b. 33, has a
between C and A? i
augmented-sixth cho
allows for a particularl
the B section.
The B Section
The dominant harmony with which the B section in Eb major begins is

extended until the cadence in the tonic at b. 45. As is often the case with second
subjects in sonata-form movements, the second section of this movement
begins before the establishment of the new key area. What is at once striking
here is that, as bs 39-44 prolong the dominant harmony, there is an exact
transposition up a fifth of the thematic material of bs 9-14 in the A section. The
outer voices are inverted as the clarinets and bassoons articulate the bass voice
and the violas and basses articulate the top voice of the earlier section. Similarly,
immediately after the cadence on the tonic harmony of this section in b. 45,
the first violins ascend from eb2 to bb2 through a series of rising
descending seconds (Ubergreifen), once again recalling the principal theme of
the A section. The bb2 which was prepared registrally by the repeated
semiquaver notes in the first violin in b. 38 becomes the initial melodic
structural tone (5) of the B section.
Ex. 7 shows how the melodic descent from 5 to I is supported by a double
harmonic progression:

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
Ex. 7
@ (9 (
t4th: bb2 (b42) c3 d1 eb'1
5 4 ~ ~4 7^3 ^3 ^3 2
"" N
i n 16th - I r Fl --
to 4 10i 100 e6 f " I :;:h I :: I -
e6 -t etl-f
Eb: 1 n E6-v7 I 16 56 I
In the first division of the do

in the top voice, the structura
This 4 later appears in the bas
over the V7 harmony which re
sequence which begins at b. 4
parts in the prolongation of t
recollection of the F minor br
chromatic motive, Eb-E -F,
exhibits the same ascending
(cf. bs 46 and 30).
Ex. 7 shows two further para
II6-V7 in bs 50-3 the first vio
on c3 in b. 52. This c3, deco
and d 3, regains the regi
registral connection betwee
b 2 preceding the c3 in b. 5
broad connection back to bb
note. This succession of Bb
Eb-E?-F. The motion fro
progression of a fourth which
progression of S descending to
fourth in the b part of the
progression is inverted in dim
the winds starting at b. 54.
There is an interesting feat
Since scale-degree 3 occurs in t
melodic progression of this sec
it began in b. 45. In order to r
of scale degrees 4 to 3 is rep
successively ascending wind fig
9. It is significant that the fir

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
articulate 3 (g2) at this register; not only the original structural register b
the original instrumentation is regained. It is worth remarking, finally, th
as the music of b. 46 recalls the F minor bridge theme, so too does the pre
passage (b. 38ff.) recall the thematic material of the A section. The co
between the two kinds of material is thus carried over into the B section
unifies the exposition as a whole in a most striking way.
The A' Section and the B minor bridge theme

After an eight-bar transition from the end of the B section, the recapitu
begins in b. 68 with a return of the opening theme back in the tonic
Ab major; this A' section is in a three-part form identical to th
section, except for the omission of repeats and the addition of winds
orchestration.
Mozart accommodates the addition of winds in the recapitulation of the a
part by alternating the antecedent and consequent phrases between strings and
winds respectively. The first violins accompany the winds' statement of the
principal theme with a countersubject which inverts the motive of the
ascending fourth and derives from the wind figure introduced at the end of the
B section (Ex. 8a):
Ex. 8a
A i, I,-. derives from N

Ex. 8b
4theb fV ebt
5 4 3
Ex. 8c
V li
In addition to the descending fourth, the neighbour-note figure, Eb-F

reappears in this new countersubject (Ex. 8b). In the b part of this section
strings appear exactly as in the exposition; the sustained E1' is articu
by the repeated semiquavers in the viola part, and the winds accompan
strings with descending scales in thirds in bs 76-82. Here, the upper voice o
descending scales brings to relief the Ubergreifen implied by the alternati
between the first and second violins, with, for example, the bb2 at

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
beginning of b. 77 falling to ab" at the beginning of

falling to b" at b. 80, and so forth (cf. Ex. 2a).
When the a' part returns in b. 87 the orchestration
consequent phrases of the main theme is reversed: th
antecedent phrase and the strings the consequent
altogether in the consequent, which thus returns to the
the exposition. Another feature of this passage is the app
which connects the antecedent and consequent phras
(b. 90). The significance of this detail will be revealed in
These considerations of instrumentation lead directly
structural alterations in the piece. While there was no me
the antecedent and consequent phrases of the ori
countersubject in the first violins in the antecedent of th
an interrupted melodic descent from scale-degree 3 to 2
new melodic line in the antecedent phrase, one wou
closure from S to I to occur in the consequent as in S
technique. This countersubject is not taken up aga
however, and the fulfilment of melodic closure is denie
imost unusual event occurs. In b. 92 the flute and bassoo
chromatic line in quavers leading from D# to F). Thi
echoes the chromatic motive Eb-E -F, but oversh
semitone. The entrance of the flute and bassoon at t
four-bar grouping which contrasts with that of the
directly into the bridge theme, cast in the unexpected ke
sudden event the A' section is broken off in midstream and left
incomplete.
The unusual contrast of enharmonic spelling created by the D# (in the flute
and bassoon) and Eb (in the first violins) in b. 92 emphasizes visually the
conflict between the expected completion of the A' section and the sudden
return of the bridge theme in B minor.1" The enharmonic change
at this point, however, is strictly notational. The bridge theme in B minor,
which follows the statement of the principal theme in Ab minor, is heard
as Cb minor, the altered mediant harmony of Ab minor. The enharmonic
change of spelling at this point serves a purely practical purpose (i.e. avoid-
ing Ebb and Abb).
While there is a natural tendency for the minor mode to gravitate towards
the mediant harmony, the more usual form of the mediant in the context
of Ab minor would be Cb major. The alteration of Cb major to minor
results from modal mixture. Since the Ab minor at the end of the A' section
was itself an alteration of the original key of Ab major, Cb minor
represents a double mixture of the mediant harmony in the larger context of
Ab major. In order to recall the bridge theme of the exposition it was necessary
for Mozart to alter Cb major to its parallel minor, and the consequence
of bringing back the bridge theme in the recapitulation results in the highly
unusual key relationship with that in the exposition. Ex. 9 presents an

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
analytic reduction of bs 91-6 which lead from the incomplete consequent

phrase at the end of the A' section to the arrival of the bridge
theme in B minor. In the reduction the literal spelling for the mediant Cb
minor is used instead of Mozart's notationally expedient B minor. It is also
interesting to notice that the fourth motive is brought back again and appears in
inversion in the second violins in bs 94-5 as D#-C#-B-A#. This grows out
of the second violin figure Eb-Db-Cb at bs. 90-1:
Ex. 9 Fl. Fl.

_4 t I -(Vn
P'jI (16 116 1) b... .

A6"I:1 1 g) b]-b
The orchestration of the B minor (= Cb min
interesting. The horns (tuned in Eb) are d
during the statement of the theme in the fir
the horns in Mozart's time were natural (i.e.
particular note a player would have had to sto
create a muted effect. Colouring this unu
orchestral sound attests to the special meanin
the entire symphony do the horns play a not
Despite the unusual tonal relationsnship o
exposition and recapitulation, the harmoni
sections is the same in each case; an augment
dominant harmony at the start of both B se
Ex. 10
Exposition Recapitulation
E6:
b AI6 AI6
V

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
first-inversion chord of the approaching key altered to its

words, since the B' section in the recapitulation is in the t
dominant, the final bars of the bridge section which preced
transposition down a fifth from the exposition):
Thus, though the bridge sections of the exposition and
tritone apart, they lead into their respective B section
bridge section of the recapitulation the original material
different transpositional levels: bs 96-9 are a tritone apar
103-8 are a fifth down from bs 34-8. There are also th
100-2) which separate these two transpositional levels.
The significance of b. 103, where the transposition of
down a fifth begins, is also heightened by the change in
winds shift from chordal to unison part writing. The flu
e 3 in b. 103 has just completed a chromatic descent f
in bs 96 and 98. This chromatic descent is an inverted
chromatic ascent d02-e2-e02-f_2 which interrupted th
and led into the B minor bridge theme:
b. 92 bs 96-8 99-101 102 103

D#-E-E#-F# inverts to F - F - Fb Eb
Not only is this chromatic line inverted, but the waywar

appearance is corrected; Eb returns in place of D
inversion in the flute and the change into unison part w
b. 103 back to b. 92, where the unison statement of
interrupted the consequent phrase at the end of
association of Ab minor harmony in these two widely s
key to the understanding of the large-scale tonal meanin
section. Ab minor is prolonged and moves from root po
A' section in b. 92 to its first inversion in b. 103.
Ex. 1la 11b
! P I 1J J" .J
A (
Al . Lf - --I
AC% * L 1 2~
5
Ab6: 16 -Bn)

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
Within this extended prolongation of Ab minor the tonal meaning of the B

minor bridge theme can now be considered. Having established that B minor
represents an enharmonic spelling of Cb minor, it is now clear that the
bridge theme in bs 96-9 has the same bass note as that of the Ab minor chord
in first inversion at b. 103. These two harmonies over the same bass note
relate to each other in an expanded 5-6 contrapuntal motion. The B m
bridge passage is thus an intermediate point between the broad prolonga
of Ab minor over bs 92-103 (Ex. 1 la).
Bars 99-102, which separate the two transposition levels of this brid
section, function not only to alter the transposition of the beginning of th
bridge section but to allow for the expanded 5-6 connection between th
minor bridge theme and the Ab minor chord in first inversion in b. 103. Ex
1 lb shows the contrapuntal background of these bars, which bring in
neighbour-note motive once again in the top voice, d2 (= e-2)-tf2-
The reappearance of the neighbour-note motive also serves a voice-lead
function in that it avoids the direct succession of the chromatic semitone
eb2-e 62. Though

enharmonic the basic
change, because of themotion of the 5-6notation
initial enharmonic progression does
of Cb minor not require an
as B minor, another enharmonic change will be required in order to return
back to Ab minor (Ex. 12):
Ex. 12
enharmonic enharmonic
change change
Rather than incorporating another pur

Mozart expands the 5-6 motion in a mo
Retaining the notation of B minor he el
Ex. 13:
The harmonic progression over these bars is a true enharmonic progression.
It transforms the B? in the bass supporting B minor into Cb which support
an Ab minor chord in first inversion in b. 103. The sequence of chords over
these bars produces the unusual succession of three chromatic semitones,
F#-F?-Fb in the flute part. In b. 99 the diminished-seventh chord is non-
functional, and f3 in the top voice is retained as a common tone over the
following two bars. This retention of f3 allows for the inflection to f3
over the diminished-seventh chord in b. 102, which resolves to e13 in

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
Ex. 13
(101) N (103
Ebb Fb-Eb
(N of N) f -flb--eb
M,arI ;aVaw
!u"_-m" v I I
b. 103. This remarkable bridge passage, therefore, presents three differ

hierarchical levels from which to view the enharmonic progression. As Ex. 1
shows, enharmonics are not essential in the background progression nor
subdivision in the middleground. Only at the foreground progression is
enharmonic change absolutely necessary:
Ex. 14
@ notational essential (
Foreground enharmonic enharmonic
iMiddleground
Background
A: I
A ": 1 616
Apart from the dramatic quality of the enharmonic transfor
a special motivic significance in the enharmonic notation itsel
in Ex. 1 la, the top voice of the expanded 5-6 contrapuntal mo
103 really represents a chromatic inflection of Ebb to Eb.
rewriting of Cb minor as B minor, however, transforms Ebb
to D?. This creates the literal notation of D?-Eb over thes

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
15a). This motion, D -Eb, was significant at the very opening of the
movement, in b. 7, where it altered the course of the consequent phrase to the
dominant instead of tonic; its literal notational recurrence here embraces the
even more surprising and dramatic event of the B minor bridge theme:
Ex. 15a
D (jEP
AL 6 recalls o E
5 6
Ex. 15b
ilor
I Id t_..--L
1 / 1% u mI I II 31
I l 1 1 I,-l T
-- I I I Y6 LM.1I T1
3
An examination of the autogr

illuminating and perhaps reve
motivic significance of D?-Eb.1
102-5, which is crossed out in th
first notation of this passage is th
final version. Mozart originally w
would have associated back to
however, Mozart suddenly writ
back to Ab minor in b. 92. In
writing of d 3 instead of eb
original notation of these bars is
desire to preserve the notation o
Now that it has become clear th
and recapitulation function diffe
In the exposition, the F minor br
within the large scale voice-exch
an augmented-sixth chord (s
important in leading into the do
Since the B' section in the re
as the A' section, Eb major (Ex.

:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff on Thu, 01 Jan 1976 12:34:56 UTC
ERIC WEN
Ex. 16
Ab I E- ofY I I V
Ab C F Ab6 Cb Fb
A a
ther
harm
Ab
imm
(Ex.
echoes the bass motion which connected the final tonic of the A section to
the F minor bridge theme in the exposition. The reminiscence of these
bars in the recapitulation, however, is transformed into the minor mode.
Because of the extended elaboration of Ab minor preceding it, the contrast
of mode which results when Ab major appears in the B' section is even
stronger than in the exposition, where the arrival in Eb major
was preceded by an Eb minor chord in b. 34. We may also notice that the
chromatic motive appears in inversion, F-Fb-Eb, in the bass voice of bs
105-6.
If the B minor bridge theme results from an expansion of the Ab minor
statement of the opening theme at the end of the A' section, what of bs
25-7 of the A section, which have still not been recapitulated? The
discussion of the following section will show how these three missing bars are
accounted for in the A' section.
The B' Section
Since the harmonic relationship between the A' and B' sections in the
recapitulation is different from that in the exposition, one would expect
alterations to occur in the bridge passages connecting them. Once the key area
of the B' section has been established, however, one would not expect any
substantial alterations from the B section, though, as with the second theme of a
recapitulation in a sonata movement, certain registral and orchestral changes
will have to occur because of the new transposition level. Yet in the works of the
greatest composers these (and other) alterations will often assume a deep
structural significance in addition to accommodating the limitations of certain
instrumental ranges.'7
Though the principal tonal features of the B' section appear in the
same way as in the B section here, there are two significant differences.
The first is the addition of descending scales in thirds in the second violins and

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
violas in bs 110-15. These scales echo those of the winds in bs 77-82 in the A'
section and associate further the connection between the opening of
the B' section and the b part of the A' section. They also clarify the inherent
Ubergreifen implied between the cellos and winds.
The second and more significant difference concerns the recomposition o
the first violins' solo in the progression from the II6 harmony in b. 120 to the V7
harmony in b. 127. In the parallel passage in the exposition (bs 50-4) the first
violins superimposed a linear progression of an ascending fourth over the broad
progression of I-II6-V7-I (see Ex. 7). Though the harmonic origin and goal of
bs 120-6 in the recapitulation is the same, transpositional level apart, as in the
paralled place in the exposition, the first violin solo is substantially changed. It
is extended by two bars and reaches a melodic peak on db3 (b. 121) instead
of what in an exact transposition would be f3. Like the melodic high point in the
B section, this melodic peak makes a registral association with the initial
structural melodic tone of this section; the db3 associates back to the eb3 in
b. 115. This motion from eb3 to db3 initiates a descent of a fifth to ab in b. 126
through cb3 and bb (Ex. 17):
Ex. 17
5th: eb3 db3 cb3 bb ab
- - - - - - - - - -3 3 4 ? 3
A0 10 1 I Y I 10
e6 f e6
A6: I 116 7 I I il6 v 4 5
This expanded melod

ascending fourth wh
subtle change in detail
when they accompa
descending fifth is in
Though the broad har
association between th
B? and Cb; the chr
in bs 51-2 is recalled i
c3 (the lowered I in

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
in their respective keys, and their enharmonic equivalenc

enharmonic transformation of Cb minor to B minor in th
recapitulation.
The inversion of the superimposed linear progression of an ascending fourth
into a descending fifth is significant in recalling the final three bars of the A
section, which do not appear in the A' section. The line of a descending
fifth in the B' section compensates for the skip of a descending fifth in the
top voice of b. 27 of the A section. Similarly, the fact that this
falling fifth is filled out by steps from the minor mode of Ab is significant in
recalling the Ab minor statement of the principal theme at the end of the A'
section (Ex. 18):
Ex. 18
f 5th
'correction' of
f 6 -e 6 (vln 1/bs 24-5)
IAb F Eb Ab
I 5th
f:-e, (b
\LV v my
Ab. Fb Eb Ab
Not only is this missi

back, but the ascent f
occurs. The Ubergreife
S in the upper voice
25-6 of the A section. T
the B' section is also c
the A section. Like the

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
in the first violins, this expansion of the bass motion is presented in the minor
mode.
The bass supporting the expansion of the first violin solo in bs 120-6 brings
about another missing element at the end of the A' section. In the
prolongation of supertonic harmony the bass moves up a third from Db to F
while the chromatic inflection of Db to D?, paralleling Ab to A? in the
bass voice of bs 51-2, is taken up by the first violins in b. 123 as an inner
voice. The motion up a third in the bass avoids an undesirable cross-
relation between the top voice db3 and d? in the bass. More significantly,
however, it allows for a statement of the neighbour-note figure, F-Eb, in
the bass. For, just as the bass of bs 25-6 made a 'correction' of
the fl--ebl
'corrects' thein themotion
bass melody of thewhich
of Fb-Eb preceding
led intobar,
the the bass ofEx.bs18123-4, f4-eb,
B' section.
summarizes how the missing three bars of the A' section are thus incorporated
into the structural organization of the B' section.
We can now consider the compositional motivation behind the expansion of
Ab minor at the end of the A' section. In the exposition, the appearance of
the opening theme in Ab minor rather than Ab major at the end of the A
section came as a surprise. Since an unexpected event in the exposition cannot
have the same novel effect when repeated, Mozart creates a different unusual
event in its place. The Ab minor harmony at the end of the a' part in the A'
section becomes expanded over ten bars, and a recollection of the bridge
theme is included in this prolongation. In a sense the quaver rest which
occurs in the consequent phrase in b. 25 becomes 'filled out' in a most
dramatic manner in the A' section.
In the melodic descent from to 3 in the B' section (Ex. 17), a
recollection of the motion into the B minor bridge theme is made through the
orchestration. The flute takes up eb3 (5) from the first violins in b. 116 and
continues to db3 (4) over the V harmony in b. 129. The first violins return
at the resolution of the seventh of the V7 onto c3 at b. 130. This orchestration of
the fundamental melodic line parallels that which led into the B minor theme in
b. 96 (Ex. 19):
Ex. 19
Vn: Vrecalls F ibi

A6: I V7 I a: I (V)

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
In the B' section of the recapitulation the 'false' d

is recalled by the orchestration of the final melodic
the 'correct' context of A6 major.
The Transition into the Coda
The principal theme of the movement makes its final appearance in the coda,
starting in b. 144. Before this, however, an expanded transition echoes material
used throughout the entire movement. Bs 132-6 echo the overlapping figures of
bs 125-9 in a way similar to that in which bs 60-4 echoed bs 53-7 at the end of
the exposition. These bars in the recapitulation differ from those in the
exposition in the instrumentation of the successive overlapping entries. In bs
60-4 the order of the entries was: first bassoon, second clarinet, first clarinet,
flute and finally bassoons again. Each statement of the figure occurred in a
progressively higher instrument until the fifth and final statement, which
returned to the original instrumentation. In the recapitulation, however, the
succession of overlapping figures begins in the second bassoon, continues in the
first bassoon, and then goes on through to the flute for its last statement. Not
only is there a change in the registral arrangement, but the flute enters on
gb2 (the lowered 7) instead of ab2 (1). This gb2 relates back registrally
to the ab2 in b. 132 in the first violins and initiates another descent of a
fourth, the goal of which, eb2, occurs on the dominant in b. 140. Ex. 20
presents a reduction of the opening eight bars of the coda, which lead to the
dominant in b. 140:
Ex. 20
(132 )3 139
4th
A6:1s-b7 II6
5 - 6
Bars 137-8 recall bs 65-6 in the transition between th

recapitulation. Whereas the top voice, stated in the flute, is
below the flute part are presented in inverted position
between the two passages can be seen in the combined-spec
in Exs 2 la and b. An exact statement of the semibreve line
137-8, as the suspensions would resolve to unstable six-four
shows, bass notes are added on the second beats:

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
Ex. 21
1Jl -VI(vl j J "

A I
Lr7 V
Not only are these two passages directly related to each other, but they bo
relate to the sequences which appear in the B and B' sections of the expos
and recapitulation at bs 46ff. and 116ff. respectively. (N.B. the reduction
b. 49ff. would follow that for b. 116ff. [Ex. 21c] transposed up a fift
comparing Ex. 21c with the settings of Exs 21a and b, it is clear that bs 6
137ff., and 116ff. are all made up of different permutations of the same v
This four-part invertible counterpoint appears throughout the movem
significant points: the first appearance (bs 46ff./1 16ff.) marks the arrival
B section, the second (b. 65ff.) marks the transition back into the recapit
tion, and the third (b. 137ff.) leads into the coda. Unlike the sudden tour de
of five-part invertible counterpoint in the glorious coda of the last movem
the Jupiter Symphony, which was to follow only a few weeks later, the dif
permutations of the invertible counterpoint recur gradually througho
movement.
In b. 139 the clarinets repeat the descending scales in th

introduced in both the A' and B' sections of the
(b. 77ff. in the winds and b. 110ff. in the second violin a
In bs 140-1 the flute and bassoon echo the Ubergreifen ascent
theme, and the last quaver beats in the upper strings fragment

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
bar of the opening theme in the context of dominant inste

The clarinets which move in parallel thirds in bs 142-4 e
of bs 54ff. and 126ff. and bring in the seventh over the d
clarinet solo over these bars makes a most subtle recollect
starting in b. 65 which led to the return of the opening th
recapitulation. Ex. 22 shows the relation between the two
sequence in b. 65ff. led to the opening theme in the re
lead to the return of the opening theme in the coda:
Ex. 22
S F].
Bn. I- I
i7
AI : 8 N I
?I II
Ab: ys `
The Coda
At the arrival on the tonic in b. 144, the opening theme of the movement makes
its final appearance. The antecedent and consequent phrases of the theme are
connected by a chromatic figure in the first violins at b. 147, bringing back the
potent D? as a descending chromatic passing note, and this relates back to the
figure in the second violins which connected the antecedent and consequent
phrases of the principal theme in the recapitulation (b. 90). The relationship
between these two figures is significant in that it associates this final statement of
the principal theme with the a' part and not the a part of the A' section. The
statement of the movement's opening theme in the coda is thus brought back in
order to compensate for its incomplete statement at the end of the A'
section. The two phrases which make up the theme in the coda are in a true
antecedent-consequent relationship, with the orchestration the same as at the
beginning of the A' section, where the strings stated the antecedent
and the winds the consequent. By preserving the statement of the
countersubject in the consequent phrase, a melodic descent from 3 to I is now
achieved.
There is one remaining subtlety, however, in the coda. The deceptive
cadences in bs 151 and 154 bring back the neighbour-note motive, Eb-F, once
more and delay the final resolution to the tonic until b. 158. Two final
statements of the neighbour-note motive, Eb-F-Eb, are brought in over the
melodic descents in the first violin, and the second of these incorporates the
chromatic motive, Eb-E?-F (Ex. 23).

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
Ex. 23
e N - e6 N 6e
eo i
This same
151-2 (viol
in the final
the leap of
Ex. 24
4 324 3
,-t ~ I J - 'I I --''
4th t
A: I I 5 111'6 t4 I
Ab: I pT 1 "V 6 5 11 I6 v 6 5
As Ex. 24 shows, the fourth scale-degree is p

which the descending chromatic thread,
The deceptive cadences at bs 151 and 154 initi
the bass from Eb up to Ab once again. Finall
apparent parallel octaves between the winds
bs 160-1 are not voice-leading octaves. The
in the motion of g2 to ab2 in the violins
doublings of the bass.
Though our initial examination of the sec

Symphony was motivated by a consideration
theme a tritone apart, there has been mu
transpositions of themes out of their large-s
feature of a composer's work, but does n
meaning these statements have. Reappearance
distant keys do not exist as separate events by
fabric of the piece as a whole - its structure

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
present analysis, motivic elaborations can merge perva

design of a movement.
The neighbour-note motive, the ascending fourth
chromatic line from Eb to F,'9 and the enharmonic C
the other movements of the 39th Symphony as well. Tho
movements in Eb rather than Ab, these motives are
elements throughout the symphony. While it is beyond the
examine them in detail, Ex. 25 shows how they are present
the first movement (cf. Exs 2 and 7):
Ex. 25
0
t4th: bb2 (b2)c3 d2 eb3
__ I __
e6f e?
f--eb
Eb: Is b7 Ui6 ?
In a real sense this introduction fo
pervade the symphony.
NOTES
1. Though the tritone is an essential feature of the tonal system, its ex

embrace the relationship between extended key areas is unusual. By the ei
century the polarity between tonic and dominant had become firmly esta
this fifth relationship is the most fundamental in the tonal system. Keys a
apart oppose this fifth relationship most emphatically.
2. In development sections of sonata movements, there are frequent tonal ex
in which a theme or motivic idea is expressed in a different, and sometime
distant, key from its initial appearance in the exposition. Mozart, for exa
a particular fondness for presenting the opening theme of a sonata move
semitone away from the original tonic at the beginning of a development
(e.g. first movements of the String Quartet in D minor, K.421; Symph
minor, K.550; Piano Concerto in Bb major, K.595).
3. Free Composition, trans. and ed. Ernst Oster (New York: Longman, 1979),
4. In his book Sonata Forms (New York: Norton, 1980) Rosen uses this
describing expansions in recapitulations of sonata-form movements

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
applies it to 'slow movement sonata forms' (i.e. sonatas without develo

sections) and cites the second movement of Mozart's String Quartet in C
K.465, as having an expansion of the bridge by a secondary development (p. 1
This idea of a secondary development was expressed earlier in Rosen's
Classical Style (London: Faber, 1971), pp. 75-6.
5. Stanley Sadie, 'Mozart', The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Sadie (London: Macmillan, 1980), p. 713.
6. 'Organic Structure in Sonata Form', trans. Orin Grossman, Journal of
Theory, Vol. 12, No. 2, Fall 1968, pp. 164-83.
7. The term 'motive' is used in the Schenkerian sense (that is, to refer to a tona
rather than to a specific thematic recurrence). Charles Burkhart traces Schen
concept of 'motive' in his article 'Schenker's Motivic Parallelisms',JMT, V
No. 2, Fall 1978, pp. 145-75.
8. Victor Zuckerkandl cites this particular chromatic alteration of Db to D
discusses its novel effect in his philosophical inquiry into the nature of time
music in Sound and Symbol (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 19
p. 232.
9. See discussion of Ubergreifen in Schenker's Free Composition, pp. 47-9.
10. Two other well-known examples of alterations of the beginning of a consequent
phrase appear in Beethoven's Piano Concerto in G and Schubert's 'Trinenregen',
from Die schone Miillerin. In the first movement of the Beethoven concerto, after
the solo piano statement of the antecedent phrase, the orchestra enters in the
'wrong' key of B instead of G major. In the Schubert song the transformation of the
consequent phrase from major to minor has a programmatic significance. The
chromatic passing note E# of the antecedent phrase, which expresses the miller's
romantic yearning, becomes tranformed into F, representing the pain of disap-
pointment.
11. The technique of interruption is discussed in detail in Free Composition, pp. 36-40.
See also Felix Salzer's discussion in Structural Hearing (New York: Dover, 1952),
pp. 145-7.
12. 'Beethoven's Sketches for the First Movement of Op. 14, No. 1: A Study in
Design',JMT, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 1982, p. 14.
13. The final A part of Brahms's Waltz in Ab, Op. 39, No 15, provides a clear example
of this harmonic procedure. The F minor of bs 20-1 serves as part of a decending
arpeggiation from the tonic, ab (bs 16-19), to the 16 chord at b. 22.
14. For further discussion of this arpeggiation in the bass within a voice exchange see
Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice-Leading, Vol. 2 (New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), pp. 172-3.
15. The occurrence of simultaneous enharmonics appears in several other passages in
Mozart's music: for example, the Piano Concerto in C. minor, K.491, first
movement, bs 228-38; Piano Concerto in Bb major, K.595, first movement, bs
209-10; Violin Concerto in A major, K.219, second movement, b. 71.
16. I am grateful to the Photogramm-Archiv der Nationalbibliothek Wien for
providing me with a microfilm copy of the manuscript.
17. Roger Kamien discusses the structural consequences of recompositions in
recapitulations in works of Beethoven in his article 'Aspects of the Recapitulation
in Beethoven Piano Sonatas', The Music Forum, Vol. 4 (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1976), pp. 195-235.
18. The ascending fourth motion from Bb to Eb is inherent in the first theme of the

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC
ERIC WEN
fourth movement. The bb2 of b. 1 descends to bbW in b. 2 b

c2 (b. 5) and d2 (b. 6) to eb2 in b. 6. This ascending fourth ap
of the movement, in the upper voice of bs 256-9. The exp
place in the movement's exposition (bs 99-100 expanded
significant in recalling, near the end, a principal motive of th
19. In the first movement the chromatic motion Eb-E?-F appea
at b. 43 in the first violins. It also occurs in inversion in the se
stated in b. 112 in the first violins, descends through e2 i
following bar before resolving to d2. The important chroma
b?1 and eo1 decorating c2 and f' respectively, which are brou
violins in bs 52-3 of the movement, echo bs 7-8 of the intro
this pattern over the II6 harmony of bs 7-8 echoed in bs 50-
ment, but it appears in bs 21-2 of the third movement as wel
20. The enharmonic transformation of BO to Cb occurs at the e
to the first movement. In b. 23 c12 appears as a chromati
descends to bb in the bass at b. 25. This inverts the chrom
from bb2 through b i2 to c3 in b. 8 (see Ex. 25). Similarly th
subtly contrasted in the first theme between the violins at b.
50-1. At the end of the development a most inspired enharm
Cb occurs. The BO of the G major chord in b. 179 becomes tr
leading to bb2 in the flute at b. 183.
The enharmonic Cb = BO recurs in the third movement
cl-cb'-bb in the violas at bs 11-12 appears in the trio
secondviolins at bs 53-5. This enharmonic makes a further ap
movement. The expansion of the consequent statement of
motivated by the enharmonic transformation of Cb to BO in
development section of the last movement, not only is Bb ch
to BO leading to c in the bass of b. 109, but Cb becomes nota
violins at b. 113. This enharmonic transformation is reversed
bo in the first bassoon is followed by Bb in the horns. At th
like Cb in descending down to Bb.

188.26.214.62 on Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:10:27 UTC

A Tritone Key Relationship - The Bridge Sections of The Slow Movement of Mozart's 39th Symphony

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Tritone Key Relationship - The Bridge Sections of The Slow Movement of Mozart's 39th Symphony

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Tritone Key Relationship: The Bridge Sections of the Slow Movement of Mozart's

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/854341

This content downloaded from