CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Program Notes A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Music in Music, Performance By Timothy Lewis December 2019 The thesis of Timothy Lewis is approved: _________________________________________ ______________ Dr. Arthur J. McCaffrey Date _________________________________________ ______________ Dr. Gayle Kowalchyk Date _________________________________________ ______________ Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Table of Contents Signature Page ii List of Examples iv Abstract v Chapter 1: W.A. Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333 1 Chapter 2: J.S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Major, Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, 6 BWV 878 Chapter 3: Claude Debussy’s Préludes 9 Chapter 4: Franz Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 in B Minor, S. 171 13 Works Cited 17 iii List of Examples Example 1: Mozart, Sonata No. 13 in B-flat Major, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 1-10. 1 Example 2: Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 23-31. 2 Example 3: Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 50-54. 2 Example 4: Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 39-40. 3 Example 5: Formal diagram of Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro. 3 Example 6: Mozart, K. 333: II. Andante cantabile, mm. 28-32. 4 Example 7: Formal diagram of Mozart, K. 333: III. Allegretto grazioso. 5 Example 8: des Prez, Missa Pange Lingua, Kyrie eleison, mm. 17-21. 7 Example 9: Froberger, Ricercar IV, subject and countersubject, mm. 1-7. 8 Example 10: Bach, Fugue in E Major, WTC II, BWV 878, subject and 8 countersubject, mm. 1-3. Example 11: Debussy, Les collines d’Anacapri, Préludes Book 1, mm. 51-53. 11 Example 12: Liszt, Ballade No. 2 in B Minor, S. 171, mm. 1-2. 14 Example 13: Liszt, mm. 24-26. 14 Example 14: Liszt, mm. 92-98. 15 iv Abstract Program Notes By Timothy Lewis Master of Music in Music, Performance This paper serves as a listening guide to works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, and Franz Liszt. By mapping out the forms of each piece and giving a clear explanation of significant harmonic and motivic events, I hope to give listeners and readers a deeper understanding of the music. While much of my discussion regarding Mozart’s Sonata No. 13 in B-flat Major and Bach’s Prelude and Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book II is primarily rooted in theoretical analysis, I give a significant amount of attention to program in regard to Debussy’s Préludes and Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 in B Minor. This is because the composition of these unique pieces was driven in some part by an extra-musical program. In the case of Debussy’s Préludes, I explore how the composer used an abstract concept or image to shape his musical gestures and harmonies. In contrast to this, I interpret Liszt’s Ballade as a dramatized retelling of the Greek myth of Hero and Leander by analyzing his use of motivic elements as stand-ins for specific plot elements. v Chapter 1: W.A. Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his thirteenth Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333 in 1783, most likely while stopping in Linz on his way back to Vienna.1 However, the piece was not published until April of the following year. In the first movement, Mozart establishes a clear Primary Key Area (PKA) in the tonic B-flat major in the opening measures of the exposition. Example 1: Mozart, Sonata No. 13 in B-flat Major, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 1-10. After some elaboration on the opening descending motif, we are presented with the Secondary Key Area (SKA) in the dominant F major at bar 23. 1 Cliff Eisen and Stanley Sadie, “Mozart, (Johann Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus,” Grove Music Online. 1 Example 2: Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 23-31. The exposition ends with a closing theme that is still in the SKA of F major. Here, a descending chromatic motif in the left hand is counter-balanced by a rising sixteenth-note line that seems to teeter on the ledge of the high register before gracefully descending to the middle of the keyboard to resolve in F major. Example 3: Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 50-54. In the excerpts above one can see the repeated use of accented suspensions. This melodic device is perhaps one of the defining traits of this movement as it appears in every motif in the two key areas. While the flowing lyricism of the melody gives the movement an undeniable 2 elegance, these suspensions bring an almost child-like quality that keeps the music light and not- too-fancy. Perhaps the most glaring example can be heard in the SKA when repeated V7 (C7) / V (F) marked fortepiano are interrupted by a hiccup-like motif: Example 4: Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro, mm. 39-40. It could be that Mozart was recalling his time trying to keep himself entertained while at court! The remainder of the first movement follows what one would expect in a typical Sonata- Allegro movement. The Development begins in the dominant F Major and, in a pre-Beethoven style, quickly returns to the tonic B-flat major by the beginning of the Recapitulation. Here we revisit the thematic material from the PKA and SKA, however now everything is stuck in the tonic B flat. Example 5: Formal diagram of Mozart, K. 333: I. Allegro. The second movement is interesting formally – like the first movement, it is also written in sonata form – but also harmonically. Following an exposition in the sub-dominant key of E-flat major, the development begins with what could be one of Mozart’s greatest dissonances: following a string of V7 - I - V7 chords that are moving away from each other, the hands 3 continue moving chromatically in the same direction and land on a viio7 / ii (F minor) by way of a suspension on F# and A: Example 6: Mozart, K. 333: II. Andante cantabile, mm. 28-32. The tonal clash is not fully resolved until three bars later where we get a clear PAC on F minor. This sets the tone for the next 16 bars as the harmony shifts from F minor to C minor and then descends down a series of chromatic mediant modulations: A-flat major, F minor, and D-flat minor. D-flat minor gives way to a dominant extension (Bb7) that lasts for three bars before the opening theme in the tonic E-flat major returns at bar 51. From here, the themes from the exposition return in highly embellished forms that evoke Mozart’s coloratura operatic style. While it is the most technically demanding of the three movements, the final movement of the sonata is the most straight-forward in terms of form and harmony. The movement is a rondo in the tonic B-flat major with an A theme that has the feeling of an early Classical concerto – the first statement of the theme is marked piano and features a simple melody and sparse accompaniment. This is immediately taken up by the imagined orchestra as it is restated, now forte, with a more active accompaniment and embellished melody. Mozart exploits this dynamic throughout the movement, oscillating between different texture densities and levels of activity to mimic the back-and-forth of the soloist and orchestra. This chart outlines the remainder of the movement’s sections and their respective key areas: 4 Example 7: Formal diagram of Mozart, K. 333: III. Allegretto grazioso. 5 Chapter 2: J.S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Major, Well-Tempered Clavier II, BWV 878 Johann Sebastian Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier stands as one of the most important collections of keyboard works written in all twenty-four keys.2 Composed in two volumes, the first written in 1722 and the second in 1740, the work comprises forty-eight pairs of Preludes and Fugues, beginning in C major and progressing chromatically while alternating between major and minor, i.e. C major is followed by C minor, then C-sharp major and C-sharp minor, and so on. The Preludes in the set are a written testament to Bach’s remarkable improvisation skills – during his tenure as the Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold of Cöthen and as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, he was known to perform incredibly complex improvisations on the keyboard and organ.3 Many of the Preludes, like the Prelude in C Minor from the first book, exploit a single texture or rhythmic motif to explore winding harmonic avenues, the only real cadences occurring when the music suddenly comes to a halt be it at the end of the Prelude, or, in the C Minor Prelude, to begin a virtuosic cadenza. This freely improvisatory character was typical of the genre, and anyone studying a keyboard instrument in the eighteenth-century would have been expected to improvise to some degree. The Prelude in E Major from WTC II, BWV 878 is one of the few in the set that has a clear binary form with an A section that moves from the tonic E Major to the dominant B Major followed by a B section that moves in the reverse direction, beginning in the dominant key returning to the tonic. The Prelude contains three distinct voices: an upper and middle voice that take turns carrying the melodic line while the other provides contrapuntal support, and a bass line 2 Maurice Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire 4th ed., Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014: 61-64.