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Intégral 31 (2017) pp. 97–126 Review of Formal Functions in Perspective, edited by Steven Vande Moortele, Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers, and Nathan John Martin by Graham G. Hunt ne of several major collections of analytical es- This essay is divided into two main sections, the first O says released over the past year or so,1 Formal Func- summarizing and reflecting on the essays, and the second tions in Perspective represents a first of its kind in two ways. taking the analytical baton from one essay and extending On the one hand, it is the inaugural collection of articles it into new case studies. In doing so, I hope to not only pro- employing William Caplin’s resuscitated and refined For- vide a general critical commentary on the book standard to menlehre approach, “Formal Functions”; but on the other, a review of this kind, but also to demonstrate the potential it is the first Festschrift-style tribute to William Caplin, one “lineage” of future work that can spring from these well- of the pre-eminent scholars in our midst, who is well- written and thought-provoking essays. deserving of such a collection of essays in his style and in his honor. The volume boasts such an impressive array of scholars, repertoires, and diversity of approaches that it 1. The Articles proves not only the “usefulness” of Formal-Function the- 1.1 Theoretical Studies in Haydn and Mozart ory2 but provides a taste of its untapped utility in reper- Poundie Burstein opens the proceedings with “Func- toires outside of the Classical canon (for example, Schu- mann and Schoenberg), and in tandem with other an- tial Formanality” in Haydn—a play on words reminiscent alytical methods such as hermeneutic analysis and dra- of the opening to his 2005 article on the auxiliary cadence, maturgical/textual interpretation. Indeed, what impresses whose first sentence seemingly begins mid-sentence toil- 3 the most about this collection is the diversity of analytical lustrate a prosaic spin on beginning music in medias res. environments and the different “payoffs” the reader can His tongue-in-cheek term Functial Formanality intention- take from each of these essays; each of the studies in For- ally applies Hepokoski and Darcy’s concept of deformation mal Functions in Perspective could (and hopefully will!) lead to Formal Functions; it refers to situations where a for- to its own lineage of successive studies, just as Caplin’s mal function of a given passage is clearly expressed but own groundbreaking work has contributed to a boom in somehow “realized in a deformational manner.” This oc- Formenlehre-based studies over the past decade or two. curs, for example, when the main theme of a sonata expo- sition, which carries the task of large-scale beginning func- 1 See Beach and Goldenberg (2015) and Neuwirth and Bergé (2015). 2 As evidenced by recent scholarship that uses Formal-Function 3 The article begins thusly: “After all, according to Heinrich theory as its central methodology, such as Bakulina (2012), Schenker, a non-tonic opening is a prime means by which Art can Neuwirth (2015), and Suurpää (2014). confront Nature.” (Burstein 2005, 159). 97 Intégral 31 (2017) Example 1. Haydn, Symphony No. 65, I, mm. 1–6 (from Burstein, Example 1.3a). tion, has a weakened, or non-existent, initiating function. the idea that “dialogic” approaches are very much compat- Burstein then explores the effects of these deformations ible with his own methodology, so Burstein by no means is on the remainder of the movement. In the opening move- passively pointing out a lacuna in Caplin’s writings. Rather, ment of Haydn’s Symphony No. 65, for example, the clarity he has brought his own multivalent approach to a specific of the main theme’s initiating function is undermined; it quirk in Haydn’s symphonic compositions. The result is opens with three “noise-killer” chords (I–V–I) that could be refreshingly original hermeneutic readings using formal- interpreted as either 1) framing (before-the-beginning) or function theory norms as a generic baseline. For example, 2) presentation (prolonging the tonic). Since what follows the “unrepentant formal function” produced by the am- is a continuation ) cadential phrase, we are faced with biguous, disjointed opening theme of Haydn’s Symphony one of two non-conventional theme types: 1) thematic intro No. 65, second movement, creates the sense that the open- (before-the-beginning) + continuation ) cadential (mid- ing theme is “flippant” and “thumbing its nose at author- dle and ending in one phrase), or 2) basic idea (presenta- ity” by refusing to fix its formal functionality in any ofits tion) + continuation ) cadential (middle and ending in returns throughout the movement (31). Burstein mentions one phrase).4 As a result of the “formal dissonance” caused Haydn’s own quote about an early attempt in a symphonic at this crucial moment in the piece, Burstein notes that the slow movement to “portray an exchange between God and remainder of the themes in the movement (most of which a ‘foolish…unrepentant sinner’…[who] pays no heed to the are variants of the main theme) are much more straight- exhortations” (30–31), which is certainly applicable to the forward, or tight-knit; this suggests that over the course “eccentric” opening theme of the 65th symphony’s slow of the movement, the “seemingly unbridled thematic ma- movement. One quibble with the voice-leading sketch in terial [of the opening theme] is ultimately converted into a Example 1.2 should be mentioned: the passage from m. 147 theme whose formal functions are extremely orderly” (18). to the end is exclusively in D major, yet the sketch im- Haydn turns formal functions upside down in the opening plicitly says it is in minor (the F within the 5-Zug is not movement of his Symphony No. 81, whose main theme be- marked as F]). However, this hardly takes anything away gins with Gjerdingen’s so-called Quiescenza schema, a cyclic from Burstein’s insightful essay on formal-function disso- progression over a tonic pedal in the bass that was typically nance in Haydn. employed as a post-cadential gesture in the Classical style. Nathan John Martin, too, masterfully weaves interpre- Slyly, Haydn brings back the opening theme at the end of tative analysis with formal/harmonic analysis in his essay the symphony, finally placing it in its proper location— “Mozart’s Sonata-Form Arias.” While dramaturgical/musi- after a cadence, and thus “after the end.” cal reading is naturally different in operas than in sym- Of course, by Burstein’s own admission, Caplin has phonies, Burstein and Martin’s approaches mesh perfectly discussed both the idea of formal dissonance at the open- in this opening pair of essays. Using arias from four late ing of a piece having an effect on later passages (33n17), and Mozart operas (Idomeneo, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Zauberflöte, and La clemenza di Tito),5 Martin assesses 4 I see the cadential events differently from Burstein, who reads Mozart’s strategies for modifying sonata forms, with an 6 V/V–ii5 in mm. 4–5 as a harmonic regression; I see a cadential pro- end goal of showing that “in his later arias [he] progres- 6 gression beginning in m. 3 with the ii5, which moves to the V/V, which fails to resolve to V, thus creating an abandoned cadence. This alternate reading is shown in Example 1; Burstein’s original 5 Excluded from these are numbers that are duets, trios, choruses, reading can be found in his Example 1.3a. or finales. 98 Hunt Review of Formal Functions in Perspective sively abridged the complete sonata structures that pre- “anomalies” can help categorize aria forms that seem to dominate Idomeneo” (38). This is primarily due to Mozart’s elude clear classifications. proclivity for truncating the recapitulations of sonata ex- Martin’s discussion beautifully interweaves formal- positions. Moreover, comparing the proportion of arias function and dramatic analysis; the first full analytical vi- in sonata form in “generically matched” opera pairs— gnette, “Traurigkeit” from Entführung (No. 10), is espe- Idomeneo (1780) and Tito (1791) as opera seria and Entführung cially effective. The opening dotted-rhythm gesture, first (1782) and Zauberflöte (1791) as Singspiele—suggests that sounded in the woodwinds, then repeated by Constanza, sonata forms became less frequent over the second half of seems initially like an introductory or “framing” phrase his career in general. preceding the true initiating phrase. However, Martin con- Martin’s fascinating study (as well as similar stud- textualizes these opening four measures, opening our eyes ies he previously published on arias in other operas by to a most moving musical-dramatic construction: Mozart and Haydn6) argues that the norms or defaults of sonata form as gleaned from instrumental music by “Having welled up in the previous recitative, her Traurigkeit presses down on her with nauseating force. Indeed, it leaves Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven are not necessarily the her momentarily unable to speak: the winds’ opening motto…is same standards one should apply to sonata-based vocal an onomatopoetic gasp for breath…The abrupt pause that fol- forms. On the contrary, there are several “deformations” or lows serves to register the shock…she stumbles, then catches her- self. The brief pause is enough, and she repeats the woodwinds’ “hybrid-form” peculiarities seen throughout Mozart’s late- gesture (mm. 3–4), now naming it [“Traurigkeit”], and so begin- career aria forms (and, as I hope to show below, in numbers ning to master herself once more….Constanza’s first sung ges- from other Classical-era operas) that are common enough ture…stand[s] apart like a motto…yet what follows in measure 5, where, propelled by the circling figures in the second violins, the to be defined as standard forms themselves.

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