Until recently, Schubert's sonata forms have been treated as the partially successful products of a classicist who often misunderstood his models. The development of sonata form in his early string quartets, though, raises serious questions about such a view. The quartets (ca. 1810 to 1816), constitute the composer's first concentrated work in large-scale instrumental music and include some of his earliest compositions in any genre. The first sonata-form movements all lack the most basic features of the structure, specifically a clearly delineated subordinate theme and subordinate key in the exposition. The evolution of Schubert's sonata form from 1810 to 1816 consists of an expansion to encompass such necessary tonal and thematic contrast. This process, however, does not lead to a close imitation of the Classical prototype but rather to a highly original reinterpretation of the form. By the end of 1814, many of the distinctive tendencies in his writing are already evident. These include (1) unusual modulatory strategies dependant upon tonal ambiguity and surprise, (2) the first signs of an intensely lyrical quality in the thematic material, (3) complementary, as opposed to derivative, thematic relationships, in which the musical discourse is divided between two contrasting motivic regions connected by underlying harmonic links and (4) a widespread allusiveness in his handling of harmony, which allows an initial harmonic event or "sensitive sonority" to become increasingly significant as the music proceeds. Ultimately Schubert's innovative approach to sonata form, while weakening the Classical attributes of clarity and conciseness, infuses a new atmosphere into the structure, making it the perfect vehicle for the expression of Romantic sentiment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41985 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Black, Brian, 1953- |
| Contributors | Caplin, William E. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Faculty of Music.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001557336, proquestno: NQ29892, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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