JMT series, part 8 (note 33)

In note 33 for the 1987 JMT article, I mention the incomplete line ^5-^7-^8. A "textbook" example of this "primitive Urlinie" in tandem with a proto-background ^3/^5 may be found in the ninth number of Schubert's Ecossaisen, D781. See the circled notes in bar 1 -- the pairing is obvious through the first strain; I have traced the voices in the score as they trade positions in the second strain.

The “verlorener Bruder” Trio, D610 (a trio without a menuet), neatly frames ^5 in its basic idea and transposed repetition (bars 1-4), then focuses on movement upward to ^8 in the continuation. In the shortened reprise (the final four bars), there is a bit of a "lost soul" sort of posthorn touch, and the voices are firmly set against one another at the last -- see the boxed notes.

In note 33, I mentioned Schubert, Ländler, D. 681, nos. 1 & 2 (perhaps as ^5-(^8)-^7-^8). Unfortunately, I don't have easy access to these at present. It is perhaps worth noting that these pieces would be nos. 5 & 6 in the complete 12 Ländler, D. 681 (from 1815), but the first four have been lost.

Hummel, Ecossaise, op52n6

Hummel published 6 Pièces très faciles, Op.52, in 1815. The set is structured in such a way that one could assemble a three or four movement sonatina out of its members, complete with a short opening cadenza (n1), a sonata-form Allegro (n2), a Romance (con dolcezza) (n4, the only piece in the set not in C major), and a Rondo (n7).

The Menuet (n3) might substitute for the Romance, or be added to make a four-movement piece, but the ecossaise (n5) is a mystery -- tucked in between the Romance and the Rondo, it is only 24 bars long, hardly weighty enough to count as a movement, but perhaps in the context of informal performance, such departures from form were common enough in Hummel's generation -- or perhaps the young woman playing it would be expected to improvise some variations to augment it.

An opening upward-reaching arpeggio -- at "a" -- is mirrored at "b" and the cadence is clear in its linear contrast, at "c" but is undercut by repetition of "a." In the consequent, that repetition is deleted and the cadence simple and direct. As often happens in dance music, the second strain contrasts sharply with the first: a strong descent from the start -- boxed -- comes down through the octave C6 to C5, and in the continuation phrase there are lines but they go stolidly up from C5 to E5, then down again.

Between Haydn and Schubert, part 1

Franz Xaver Süssmayr, not long after finishing Mozart's Requiem, wrote a set of 12 menuets for a ball in the Redoutensaal, the same Imperial hall for which Mozart himself wrote dances and for which Beethoven wrote the Menuets, WoO7 and Deutsche Tänze, WoO8. Both of Beethoven's sets were played in the same 1795 season as Süssmayr's.

The opening of the first menuet has the processional/refrain quality that I alluded to in connection with WoO8n1 (link), and at first it seems equally unpromising with respect to rising cadence gestures.

But instead of no promise, a surprise. Not only do the 1st violins rise steadily through the scale in the second strain, but their progress is rendered unmistakable by accompaniment of the piccolo. Note that the first Horn, with the 1st violins, accomplishes the cadenza perfetta.

One other menuet marks a similar figure. Here again the principal melody does not offer any hint of a cadence figure in the first strain, but the first oboe and first Horn do at least produce a ^5-^7-^8 figure in the dominant.

As in no. 1, however, the menuet ends with a quite determined move upward. Note that Süssmayr avoids parallels in the penultimate bar with some violinistic double-stops.

In the trio, on the other hand, the antecedent already uses a rising motive, which is dutifully filled out in the consequent (which is shown here):

As a postscript, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's Brief Ballet in Form of a Contredanse is an Anglaise (a schottisch or ecossaise) with five trios and a vigorous coda. The fourth trio (or "Alternativo") consists of four phrases, three of which trace the same ascent from ^5 to ^8. All 16 measures, but only the relevant orchestral parts, are shown here.