Sonata-cyclic form |
Music Terms

Sonata-cyclic form |

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Sonata-cyclic form – a kind of cyclic a form that unites into one whole a series of finished, capable of independent existence, but connected by a common idea of ​​works. S.’s specificity – c. f. lies in the high ideological arts. the unity of the whole. Each part of S. – c. f. performs a special dramaturgy. function, revealing a certain side of a single concept. Therefore, when a performance is isolated from the whole, its parts lose much more than the parts of a cycle of another type – a suite. The first part of S. – c. f., as a rule, is written in sonata form (hence the name).

The sonata cycle, also called the sonata-symphony, took shape in the 16th-18th centuries. His old preclassical the samples still do not show clear differences from the suite and other types of cyclic. forms – partitas, toccatas, concerto grosso. They were always based on the contrast of rates, types of movement of the department. parts (hence the French names for the parts of the cycle – mouvement – “movement”). The tempo ratio of the first two parts slow-fast or (rarely) fast-slow was usually repeated with an even greater sharpening of their contrast in the second pair of parts; 3-part cycles were also created with the tempo ratio fast-slow-fast (or slow-fast-slow) .

In contrast to the suite, consisting of Ch. arr. from the dance plays, parts of the sonata were not direct incarnations of c.-l. dance genres; a fugue was also possible in the sonata. However, this distinction is very arbitrary and cannot serve as an accurate criterion.

The sonata cycle clearly separated from the rest of the cyclic. forms only in the works of the Viennese classics and their immediate predecessors – F. E. Bach, the composers of the Mannheim school. Classic sonata-symphony the cycle consists of four (sometimes three or even two) parts; distinguish several. its varieties depending on the composition of the performers. The sonata is intended for one or two, in ancient music and three (trio-sonata) performers, the trio for three, the quartet for four, the quintet for five, the sextet for six, the septet for seven, the octet for eight performers and etc.; all these varieties are united by the concept of the chamber genre, chamber music. The symphony is performed by the symphony. orchestra. The concert is usually for a solo instrument (or two or three instruments) with an orchestra.

The first part of the sonata-symphony. cycle – sonata allegro – his figurative art. center. The nature of the music of this part can be different – cheerful, playful, dramatic, heroic, etc., but it is always characterized by activity and effectiveness. The general mood expressed in the first part determines the emotional structure of the entire cycle. The second part is slow – lyric. center. the center of melodious melody, expressiveness associated with own. human experience. The genre foundations of this part are a song, an aria, a chorale. It uses a variety of forms. The rondo is the least common, the sonata form without development, the form of variations are very common. The third part switches attention to the images of the outside world, everyday life, the elements of dance. For J. Haydn and W. A. ​​Mozart, this is a minuet. L. Beethoven, using the minuet, from the 2nd sonata for piano. along with it, he introduces the scherzo (occasionally also found in Haydn’s quartets). The scherzo, imbued with a playful beginning, is usually distinguished by elastic movement, unexpected switching, and witty contrasts. The form of the minuet and scherzo is a complex 3-part with a trio. The finale of the cycle, returning the character of the music of the first part, often reproduces it in a more generalized, folk-genre aspect. For him, joyful mobility, the creation of the illusion of mass action are typical. The forms that are found in the finals are rondo, sonata, rondo-sonata, and variations.

The described composition can be called spiral-closed. A new type of concept took shape in Beethoven’s 5th symphony (1808). The finale of the symphony with its triumphantly heroic sound – this is not a return to the character of the music of the first movement, but the goal of the development of all parts of the cycle. Therefore, such a composition can be called linearly striving. In the post-Beethoven era, this type of cycle began to play a particularly important role. A new word was said by Beethoven in the 9th symphony (1824), in the finale of which he introduced the choir. G. Berlioz in his program “Fantastic Symphony” (1830) was the first to use the leitteme – “theme-character”, the modifications of which are associated with a literary plot.

In the future, many individual solutions S.-ts. f. Among the most important new techniques is the use of the main theme-refrain associated with the embodiment of the main. arts. ideas and a red thread passing through the entire cycle or its individual parts (P. I. Tchaikovsky, 5th symphony, 1888, A. N. Skryabin, 3rd symphony, 1903), the merging of all parts into one continuously unfolding whole, in a continuous cycle, into a contrast-composite form (the same Scriabin symphony).

G. Mahler uses the wok even more widely in the symphony. beginning (soloist, choir), and the 8th symphony (1907) and “Song of the Earth” (1908) were written in synthetic. the genre of symphony-cantata, used further by other composers. P. Hindemith in 1921 creates a product. under the name “Chamber Music” for small orchestra. Since that time, the name “music” becomes the designation of one of the varieties of the sonata cycle. The genre of the concerto for the orchestra, reviving in the 20th century. preclassical tradition, also becomes one of the varieties of S. – c. f. (“Concerto in the old style” by Reger, 1912, Krenek’s Concerti grossi, 1921 and 1924, etc.). There are also many individualized and synthetic. variants of this form, not amenable to systematization.

References: Catuar G. L., Musical form, part 2, M., 1936; Sposobin I. V., Musical form, M.-L., 1947, 4972, p. 138, 242-51; Livanova T. N., Musical dramaturgy of J. S. Bach and its historical connections, part 1, M., 1948; Skrebkov S. S., Analysis of musical works, M., 1958, p. 256-58; Mazel L. A., The structure of musical works, M., 1960, p. 400-13; Musical form, (under the general editorship of Yu. H. Tyulin), M., 1965, p. 376-81; Reuterstein M., On the unity of the sonata-cyclic form in Tchaikovsky, in Sat. Questions of Musical Form, vol. 1, M., 1967, p. 121-50; Protopopov V.V., Principles of Beethoven’s musical form, M., 1970; his own, On the sonata-cyclic form in the works of Chopin, in Sat. Questions of Musical Form, vol. 2, Moscow, 1972; Barsova I., Problems of form in Mahler’s early symphonies, ibid., her own, Gustav Mahler’s Symphonies, M., 1975; Simakova I. On the question of the varieties of the symphony genre, in Sat. Questions of Musical Form, vol. 2, Moscow, 1972; Prout E., Applied forms, L., 1895 Sondhetmer R., Die formale Entwicklung der vorklassischen Sinfonie, “AfMw”, 1910, Jahrg. four; Neu G. von, Der Strukturwandel der zyklischen Sonatenform, “NZfM”, 232, Jahrg. 248, no 1922.

V. P. Bobrovsky

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