Mendelssohn's Instrumental Music: Structure and Style (Harmonoligia: Studies in Music Theory)

What is it that makes Mendelssohn's music recognizably unique? This study hopes to make a contribution to the answer through an analysis of an extensive sample of Mendelssohn's instrumental music. I identify a compositional practice which I believe to be a hallmark of his style: the smoothing over of formal junctures of various types. By and large, Mendelssohn's dynamic treatment of formal junctures reflects a general concern with enhancing continuity and momentum in longer forms, a compositional issue that has always presented a challenge to composers in the Western music tradition. The main purpose of our investigation, then, is to delineate the specific techniques that Mendelssohn used in his characteristic effort to bridge over formal divisions. Many of Mendelssohn's works reveal this clear (and evidently deliberate) propensity to create larger continuities by means of bridging over divisions, regardless of the formal prototype or level of structure. At the same time, an almost Mozartian clarity of form often is preserved. This might at first seem contradictory, but Mendelssohn, as I shall attempt to demonstrate, was able to find ingenious ways of having his cake and eating it, too [From author's introduction]. Read more... What is it that makes Mendelssohn's music recognizably unique? This study hopes to make a contribution to the answer through an analysis of an extensive sample of Mendelssohn's instrumental music. I identify a compositional practice which I believe to be a hallmark of his style: the smoothing over of formal junctures of various types. By and large, Mendelssohn's dynamic treatment of formal junctures reflects a general concern with enhancing continuity andmomentum in longer forms, a compositional issue that has always presented a challenge to composers in the Western music tradition. The main purpose of our investigation, then, is to delineate the specific techniques that Mendelssohn used in his characteristic effort to bridge over formal divisions. Numerous of Mendelssohn's works reveal a clear (and evidently deliberate) propensity to create larger continuities by means of bridging over divisions, regardless of the formal prototype or level of structure. At the same time, an almost Mozartian clarity of form often is preserved. This might at first seem contradictory, but Mendelssohn, as I shall attempt to demonstrate, was able tofind ingenious ways of having his his cake and eating it, too. Contents 6 Preface 8 Edito R’s Introduction New Paths 10 Introduction 14 Chapter 1: Phrase and Subphrase Overlap 20 I. Regular Hypermeter 21 Ii. Expanded Hypermeter 24 The Phrase Level 32 Ii. Harmonic Issues 42 Iii. Two-level Overlap 47 Iv. Masking A Phrase Border By Sequence 50 A Final Example 51 Chapter 2: Unusual Treatment of the Reprise in Small Forms 56 Chapter 3: Deviations from the Norms at the Beginning of the Recapitulation in Sonata Forms 92 Chapter 4: Joining Together Other Sections in Sonata Forms 124 Chapter 5: Linking Movements in Multi-Movement Works 150 Chapter 6: Summary: Historical Perspective 176 Index 200 Mendelssohn’s,instrumental,music,:,structure,and,style Frontcover Contents Preface by Carl Schachter Editor's Introduction Introduction 1: Phrase and Subphrase Overlap 2: Unusual Treatment of the Reprise in Small Forms 3: Deviations from the Norms at the Beginning of the Recapitulation in Sonata Forms 4: Joining Together Other Sections in Sonata Forms 5: Linking Movements in Multi-Movement Works 6: Summary: Historical Perspective Index. What is it that makes Mendelssohn's music recognisably unique? This study hopes to make a contribution to the answer through an analysis of an extensive sample of Mendelssohn's instrumental music.