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melodic sequences and rapid chord changes. The development sounds active, perhaps confusing; the harmonies shift quickly, and the themes, while recog- nizable, often pile one on top of another in a dense con- trapuntal texture. Finally, a cadential passage, coming at the end of a section or the end of the piece, sounds repetitive because the same chords are heard again and again in a harmony that seems to have stopped moving forward. Each of these four styles has a specific function within sonata–allegro form: to state, to move, to develop, or to conclude. The ultimate aim of this process is to sway our emotions, but to do so in a logical fashion—in a way harmonious with the Age of Reason.
To test your ability to follow the unfolding sona- ta–allegro form, we turn now to the opening move- ment of Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (see Listen- ing Cue and Figure 8.5). Likely you already know the themes, but to refresh your memory they are given in Examples 8.2 through 8.4.
Figure 8.5
Comedian, jazz artist, and
improv singer Bobby McFerrin conducting the St. Paul Cham- ber Orchestra. McFerrin has conducted orchestras around the world and issued several record- ings of Mozart, including Eine kleine Nachtmusik, discussed here.
watch . . . Bobby McFerrin inspire a variety of interpretations of Mozart’s famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik online.
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 8.2 online.
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 8.3 online.
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Example 8.2 > aggressive, fanfare-like opening that rapidly ascends
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