Development of the Symphony Essay - Harmony/Tonality

?

Boyce No. 1 - 1756

- mvt 1 tonic 

- mvt 2 relative min 

- mvt 3 tonic

1 of 12

Haydn Symphony No. 1 in D - 1759

- mvt 1 tonic

- mvt 2 subdominant major 

- mvt 3 tonic 

- closely related middle mvt

2 of 12

Haydn Symphony N. 45 in F# min (The Farewell) - 17

- Haydn used his symphony to tell his employer, the Prince, that he had stayed too long for the summer and the musicians were unhappy

- suddenyl broke off the F# minor presto last mvt to an A maj adagio where each musician dropped out eventually ending with 2 violins. He then finishes the mvt in F# major showing the happy solution through the tierce de picardie effect 

3 of 12

Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G min - 1788

- mvt 1 tonic 

- mvt 2 subdominant of relative major

- mvt 3 tonic

- mvt 4 tonic 

- chooses to move to a more distant key for mvt 2 

- becoming more advenutous in modulations as mvt 1 reaches distant key of F# min and is interesting in its use of circle of 5ths, dim harmonies and chromaticisms however tonality is clearly confirmed through use of perfect cadences

4 of 12

Haydn Symphony No. 104 in D (London) - 1795

- tonic minor for slow intro

- slow mvt B section begins in tonic minor (Gmin) before moving to D minor and reaches distant keys/modulations (Db maj then C#min)

- trio in usual tertiary and minuet eventually ending on V of D major

- mvt 4 reaches distant key of F# maj in development

- mvt 1 harmony functional but interesting (e.g. neap chord in slow intro, aug 6th in development)

- mvt 4 drone/folk/rustic harmonies, neap chord in transition, dim 7th tension another neap chord in development 

- very clear establishing of tonic key at end of each mvt via extended cadential repetition and chord emphasis

5 of 12

Beethoven Symphony No.1 in C - 1799-1800

- slow intro beigns with perfect cadence in F and doesn't resolve to tonic of C until start of first mvt proper

- exploring much more remote keys in mvt 1 development (e.g. flattened median major)

6 of 12

Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C min - 1804-1808

- mvt 2 theme 1 is less closely related in Ab major and theme 2 is in C which hints at key of finale

- mvt 4 tonic major key choice with dark to light programmatic fell and extended tierce de picardie is groundbreaking 

- work ends with most extended repetition of tonic harmony in all music

7 of 12

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D min (Chorale) - 1823

- much more varied tonal content 

- mvt 1 doesn't establish tonic until bar 17 (initially feeling A maj but should be D min)

8 of 12

Mendelssohn Italian Symphony - 1832

- increased miinor key emphasis

9 of 12

Berlioz Symphony Fantastique in C - 1829

- mvt 1 tonic minor intro then tonic major 

- mvt 2 tertiary, tonic maj of relatic min 

- mvt 3 subdominant major

- mvt 4 dominant minor

- mvt 5 tonic major

10 of 12

Dvorak Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) in E mi

- mvt 2 in Db major 

- mvt 4 ends in tonic major (tierce de picardie concepts)

11 of 12

Mahler

- had cyclical elements in finales and did not always return to tonic key at all

12 of 12

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Music resources:

See all Music resources »See all Western Classical Tradition resources »