Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Please help me analyze Mozart C major sonata K.545

Hello. I learned the first movement of this sonnata about 2 weeks ago, I am about to start the second. I was wondering if anyone can help me with analyzing it. Just the first movement, after that I should be able to figure the second and third out, hopefully. I am learning theory on my own I don't have a teacher.

I have an idea about the subject, exposition, ect. but would really like some help. I bought a book on analyzing musical form and on Tonal Harmony. I definatly want to learn as much theory as I can.

Thanks
Mike

Theme 1 starts at the beginning and goes until the G major section. Theme 2 is the G major section. The two together make up the exposition section. Then they are repeated like any standard sonata.

THe development section begins with the G minor section, and goes until the F major section. THe recap begins with the F major section being the first theme and then the subsequent C major section (which is a recap of theme 2 originally in G major).

Some editions repeat the development and recap sections, however I usually don't repeat those when I play since that is not standard sonata form.

In the classical music repertoire (classical meaning Mozart, Haydn, and other composers of the mid to late 1700s), this is the usual plan for 1st movements of sonatas:

Exposition:
-- First theme in tonic key (whatever key the sonata is in, e.g. C Major)
-- Second theme(s) in dominant key (one more sharp or flat; in this case, G Major with one sharp)

(the exposition is repeated)

Development:
-- takes something from the exposition (in this case, the last couple measures before the repeat) and spins them around and moves around in different keys

Recapitulation:
-- First theme in tonic key (whatever key the sonata is in, e.g. C Major)
-- Second theme(s) in tonic key (note: not in the dominant this second time around)


--------

OK, so that's what *usually* happens. But there are exceptions. This sonata is an exception.

Everything is as expected, except that the first theme in the recapitulation is in F Major, not C Major. So it's not a *big* exception, but that is very unusual for the recap to begin in F Major instead of C Major.

Thank you very much.

Mike

Maybe Kreisler will fix this topic as an additional beginner theory topic next to the Chopin waltz, so we can all start analyzing the piece!!

that would be great

Kreisler --

YES ! Will you do it? I love this Sonata.
I would appreciate a theory discussion.

Virginia (from Virginia)

That would be cool

Well, I'm not Kreisler but I'll fix the thread. Theory discussions are always interesting and the K. 545 is a beautiful piece.

No activity so unfixing the thread.

Ok let us start on this thread .. watch out for my mistakes. Corrections wanted if necessary.

Go ahead to www.sheetmusicarchive.net to download the sheet music and follow the score.

This is a classical sonata so let us dissect it
First, the Exposition:
Here the exposition starts from m.1 and ends at m.28 (the end of the 3rd line on the second page)

The exposition where the composer presents his themes. In our movement we have two themes in the exposition:
The primary theme which he begins the piece with - this is in the home key of C major

The secondary theme which begins at m.13 - in the dominant key (G major)


The Development section (where the composer varies and plays with the themes he presented in the exposition):
Begins at m.29 (the beginning of the 4th line of the 2nd page - he already writes there DS meaning development section)

He starts the development using the close of the exposition but transposing it in the parallel minor key (so here .. G minor)

Recapitulation (where he returns again after development to his main themes):
Measure 42 (2nd bar 2nd line 3rd page): Here he returns to theme no.1, his primary theme. But he does not return to it in his home key (C major), but here it is transposed to another key (F major - the subdominant)


Measure 58 (bar 2 4th page): Here he returns to theme no.2 but this time, he plays it in the tonic rather than the dominant (as pianojerome explained above), then he closes.

Further analysis will follow, this is the general outline.

C7 player can now fix the thread again

One of the defining features of 18th century music that distinguished it from the older baroque music had to do with melody and phrasing. In the baroque music (for example, J.S. Bach), the melodies are very long, and there are very few "cadences" (a cadence is a V chord or V-I that ends a phrase); as a result, the phrases are very long, and very irregular, so sometimes you have 10-bar phrases, and sometimes 26-bar phrases, and sometimes 17-bar phrases, and sometimes 5-bar phrases (I made up those numbers, but you can hopefully see the point). The new music, however, was very frequently written in nice 2- or 4- or 8-bar phrases, with lots of cadences. This gave the music a more "natural" and less "academic" and more "popular" appeal.

So we see this in Mozart.

The exposition begins with two small phrases: mm. 1-2 (see how it begins and ends on C and is followed by a rest) and mm. 3-4 (same structure as the first phrase, and it has a nice rest after it). So already, two very short, simple phrases. This is called, by some, the "primary theme".

Then a transition follows: in m. 5, you have a nice scale going up and down from A to A; in m. 6 you have a nice scale going up and down from G to G; in m. 7, F to F; in m. 6, E to E. This particular type of pattern is called a 'sequence' -- it is a particular little phrase (in this case, a scale going up and down) that is repeated several times, each time beginning a step lower (or, in the other direction, a step higher) on the scale. (Notice that each phrase that is repeated (scale up and down) is only one measure long -- very short, and they are all the same length.) This sequence + the following few measures forms a big transition to the second theme, which begins in the dominant key (G Major). Notice that the last chord in measure 12 is the dominant chord (G B D), and it is followed by a big rest (called a "medial caesura", if we want to be fancy).

Now we have the second theme. See, again, the theme consists of two very short 2-bar phrases, each phrase followed by a rest: mm. 14-15 and 16-17. Then, another sequence: this time, the short little phrase that is repeated in each step of the sequence is again only 1 bar long (again, very short). The first step of the sequence begins in m. 18 on the note D in the right hand; the next step begins in m. 19 on the note C in the right hand; next measure, B; next measure, A. This is another little transition to the closing theme (mm. 26-28). And that's the end of the exposition!

Now, another feature of the various new styles in the 1700s, that makes them very different from baroque music, is the idea of contrast. If you listen to a baroque prelude or fugue, for example, there is little contrast -- mostly just one mood, not a lot of sudden changes in rhythm. (e.g. Prelude in C, Prelude in C Minor...) In baroque music, sometimes there is some contrast, but it is sectionalized: for example, in the C Minor Prelude from WTC I, there is an allegro section, and then there is a presto section, and then there is an adagio section... but within each section, there isn't much in the way of contrast.

Mozart is full of contrasts.

• The first theme, mm. 1-4, is very lyrical. The rhythmic values are relatively long (see all the quarters and half notes in the right hand.) You could imagine a singer singing this pretty melody.

• Now, what follows in the transition is lots of 16th note scales up and down, eventually leading to forte and some 16ths in the left hand. It is very dramatic.

• The second theme, following, is different yet -- it is more lyrical than the transition, but not as much as the opening theme. It has a little more bounce to it, but compared to the transition that came before, the note values are a bit longer (eighths, dotted quarters...).

• Now follows the next transition; very wavy, with the notes passing from the left hand to the right hand and back to the left and back to the right. No block chords, no simultaneous notes; just waving up and down, up and down, back and forth.

• Then, beginning at m. 22, you've got 8th notes stacatto bouncing in the left hand -- before, you had no block chords at all, and now the same block chord is repeated through the whole measure, while the right hand plays a curt, jumpy theme with staccatos and grace notes (appogiaturas).

• A trill leads to the closing theme (last three bars before the repeat), which just outlines a few chords. (note that the second measure of this is the same as the first, just an octave lower). (Incidentally, that's also the theme (this closing theme) that is developed in the following development section.)

So there isn't just contrast between various sections and movements; there is new and sudden contrast every few measures.

I happen to be practicing this piece again at the moment to memorize it and make it a permanent part of my repertoire. I'm facinated by this first movement for its simplicity and beauty and this thread gives me the motivation to see if I can figure out for myself why it is so beautiful.
So here goes.
I think the horizontal, melodic aspect of this movement is very important so I'll start with that. The first two measures comprise a very short but important phrase. First the ascending triad or open chord, then the little lower neighbor-upper neighbor figuration. These two little ideas are seen to come back in various ways.

The third measure begins a kind of answering phrase on the sub dominant harmony of FMajor and walks back down to E natural along with another neighbor note figuration.

The melody then leaps down to A natural to begin the next 8 measure phrase that completes the opening theme. Within the 8 measures the melody walks down stepwise from A to D with the ascending/descending octave scale providing reinforcement and interest. Once the D is reached in the melody the scale pattern takes full control and ascends with a C# thrown in to signal the upcoming modulation to the G Major dominant. (C# is the leading tone to D, the dominant of G). Then the F# in measure 10 assures us that we have moved to the dominant key.

The second theme begins with a left hand continuation of the melody that moved down from A to D earlier by continuing down to C# - C and then falling to B as the right hand enters with the second theme which begins with an inverted version of the first theme with slightly different rhythms. This phrase is repeated again and then an extended series of broken or open chords follows. While the harmonies here are following a circle of fifths pattern - GM, CM, F#dim, Bm, Em, Am, DM, GM, the melody is following a slow stepwise falling pattern again starting with D at the high end and falling to the low A before quickly leaping back up A minor chord tones and beginning to cadence with the G6/4 D7 trill.

The closing cadence of this exposition is very interesting. It consists of a broken chord ending with the F#-A-G figuration that the opening phrase has in C. In fact if I play the opening phrase and this cadence phrase next to each other in the same key, they sound very similar to me. I think the use of open chord melodies followed by small neighbor note activity and scaler movement is a pattern that contributes to the cohesiveness of this movement.

In the development section I see this pattern taking hold even more. The cadence pattern is repeated along with the scale pattern references from the first theme. The scale patterns consist of ascending then descending patterns similar to the first theme scale patterns except that now they are much more separated from each other.

Gradually these scale patterns lead us back to the recapitulation section except, as noted in an earlier thread, this time the theme is in F major instead of the expected C major. Why F? the only connection I can make is with the harmony of the second phrase of the first theme, (measures 3 and 5) which uses F major as the sub dominant of C. I find that second phrase on the sub-dominant, (measure 3-4) unusual for a classical theme so maybe that F Major chord was still resonating in Mozart's head as he was deciding how to procede at the recap.
While that's pure speculation, those are the only 2 places in the movement where F major harmony is heard.

So all in all I see three things going on melodically that give this movement symmetry:
Open/broken chord patterns
Neighbor note patterns
Scaler patterns.

I suppose one could say something similar about a lot of musics, but I think in this movement these three things are clearly diffentiated and juxtaposed with one another.

So that's my 2 cents.

Some questions:
What is the circle of fifths?

How do trills act as cadences (the technique which was used regularly in Mozart's time)?

The circle of fifths is a very important law of harmonic root movement in Western music since 1700. Take any Major key such as C Major. Play chords starting with C and moving up a 4th and down a 5th within the key signature. C, F, b, e, a, d, G, C.

There are seven chords in the sequence corresponding to the 7 scale tones and then it ends back at the first one again. This is the sequence you hear in many works of music when the harmony moves quickly. In a minor key you would simply start on the 6th degree - A minor in this case. So a, d, G, C, F, b, e, a.

Now there one fifth that is not a perfect fifth in this sequence. It's between the F major and b diminished chords. F-B is a tritone. By making this interval diminished instead of perfect, the circle can remain within the key. Otherwise the circle is extended to include all 12 notes of the chromatic scale: C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb/F#, B, E, A, D, G, C.

So Mozart executes a pure cycle of 7 fifths as noted beginning on G in the key of G major:
G major, C major, F# diminished, b minor, e minor, a minor, D Major and back to G.

I would say that a trill acts as a cadence because a cadence is a form of tension leading to a release, (V-I) and a trill serves to emphasize the tension (V) of the harmony prior to the release of the cadence resolution (I).

A trill can also be used as a signal at the end of a section/piece. It stands out, a lot more than just a plain old note by itself, as if to tell the audience, "OK here's the end!"

(which is why most classical cadenzas end with a long trill... because the cadenzas were usually improvised, so the trill was a signal to the orchestra to get ready to come back in)

Another question:
let us say he modulates to another key in the course of the piece, and I want to continue analyzing the harmony (you know, identifying the chords like I, ii, V7) .. do I analyze in relation to the home key or do I convert to analyze everything in respect to the new key?

I am still confused by this.

You analyze in respect to the new key.

So in a Sonata in C Major, G B D would be a dominant (V) chord. But if the piece modulates to G Major, then G B D becomes a tonic (I) chord. This why another way of saying 'modulate' is 'tonicize'; instead of saying that he modulates to G Major, we can say that he tonicizes G, i.e. that he makes G the new tonic note.