Monday, April 17, 2017

Music in 17th century Vienna, part 4

Here is the sarabande from what is either a ballet or other stage piece: Fechtschule (Fencing School). The numbers are Aria I, Aria 2, Sarabande, Courente, Fechtschule, Bader Aria.

Typical features are the well-defined initial tonal space ^5-^8 (circled), and the continuation from ^5. The second strain is unusual, not only for Schmelzer but for the repertoire of music with ascending cadence gestures, in the expansion of ^7. Note the unfoldings that help justify this reading. Whether an Urlinie would be a primitive ^5-^7-^8 or ^8-^7-^8 depends on which note in the initial tonal space you take as the focal note for the whole dance.