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CONTENTS Introduction 7 Chapter 1 The circle of J. S. Bach 37 Chapter 2 J. S. Bach in London: 110 converting the Handelians Chapter 3 Classical style, Classical ideology, 197 and the instrumental fugues of Joseph Haydn Chapter 4 Mozart, finished and unfinished 248 Chapter 5 Fugue in Beethoven: 309 mundane and transcendental counterpoint Conclusion 392 Index of musical examples 413 Bibliography 422 6
INTRODUCTION ‘Every hearer enjoys a clear, melodious thought,—the more seizable the whole to him, the more will he be seized by it;—the composer knows this himself,—he sees by what he makes an effect, and what obtains applause;—in fact it comes much easier to him, for he has only to let himself go; but no! he is plagued by the German devil, and must shew the people his learning too!’ R. Wagner, ‘Die deutsche Oper’ (1834) 1 This is a study of the fortunes and vicissitudes of a Baroque style during the Classical period—an exploration of what happened to fugal writing between the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750 and that of Beethoven in 1827. By the time Richard Wagner wrote the words that head this chapter (and which have supplied the title to this thesis) fugue as a style had been obsolete for nearly a century. It was a hundred years since Leonardo Vinci and his Neapolitan contemporaries had first achieved renown across Europe by ‘simplifying and polishing melody, ... disentangling it from fugue, complication, and laboured contrivance,’ 2 and in that time Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (and many others) had shown the vast possibilities of this new way of writing music. For this reason it would seem that to begin such a study in the middle of the eighteenth century is, in a sense, to begin it at the point when it ceased to be important. The later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries had seen the creation of a vast and still unparalleled corpus of fugal works: in the music of Bach and Handel, of course, 1 Richard Wagner’s prose works, tr. W. A. Ellis, 8 vols. (New York: Broude, 1966), vol. VIII, p.57. 2 C. Burney, A general history of music from the earliest ages to the present period (London, 1776- 1789), vol. IV, p.547. 7
Page 1 and 2: WRESTLING WITH THE GERMAN DEVIL: FI
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT ‘After’ can be taken b
Page 5: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many peo
Page 9 and 10: esponse was: ‘the fugue is no lon
Page 11 and 12: instrumental fugues of Joseph Haydn
Page 13 and 14: world of their own. The study concl
Page 15 and 16: facts and the ‘soft technology’
Page 17 and 18: DEFINING FUGUE But what are they? W
Page 19 and 20: elow). For how many voices or parts
Page 21 and 22: indeed a complete counter-expositio
Page 23 and 24: on two pitches throughout, tonic an
Page 25 and 26: already become the historicising na
Page 27 and 28: Catholic tradition, but Albrechtsbe
Page 29 and 30: the texture as a whole coincides in
Page 31 and 32: kind experimentalism of Samuel Wesl
Page 33 and 34: The clearest sign of things to come
Page 35 and 36: Perhaps a clue can be found in the
Page 37 and 38: CHAPTER 1 THE CIRCLE OF J. S. BACH
Page 39 and 40: FINE DISTINCTIONS (1): MISATTRIBUTE
Page 41 and 42: sounding object, nothing has change
Page 43 and 44: Mendelssohn, Schumann, Spitta, Wido
Page 45 and 46: pieces are known from a single copy
Page 47 and 48: very good; and the ends of both mov
Page 49 and 50: ever, could have written it?’ 23
Page 51 and 52: incorrectly prepared suspended four
Page 53 and 54: has a number of doubtful features.
Page 55 and 56: einforces them. Its texture is impo
Page 57 and 58:
of thinking over long spans.’ 44
Page 59 and 60:
W. F. Bach and Krebs have always en
Page 61 and 62:
the equitable distribution of his e
Page 63 and 64:
slender volumes, including many pie
Page 65 and 66:
In style (there is no particular th
Page 67 and 68:
and it is the least comfortable bit
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voices inverted, and serve the purp
Page 71 and 72:
each line in a polyphonic texture a
Page 73 and 74:
If its general type is old, however
Page 75 and 76:
thematic material. The subject coul
Page 77 and 78:
Karl Geiringer makes an almost emba
Page 79 and 80:
prolix F minor fugue, the expressiv
Page 81 and 82:
Kittel, and Krebs himself. 76 Inevi
Page 83 and 84:
[that] a keyboard composer can and
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Ex.1.12b shows the start of a fugue
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Egypt) did not prevent him from bei
Page 92 and 93:
The very slow harmonic rhythm, howe
Page 94 and 95:
If not inimitably characteristic, t
Page 96 and 97:
As we saw in the first part of this
Page 98 and 99:
subject is also expansive; it too c
Page 100 and 101:
to expand and elaborate the surface
Page 102 and 103:
The significance of this sort of st
Page 104 and 105:
By the time the halfway point is re
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‘originality’—of historical p
Page 108 and 109:
to follow in his father’s footste
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CHAPTER 2 J. S. BACH IN LONDON: CON
Page 112 and 113:
of the mark. 4 Handel’s influence
Page 114 and 115:
that would perpetuate his oratorios
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—also remained strongly Handelian
Page 118 and 119:
118
Page 120 and 121:
in the Overture to Alcina (1735). A
Page 122 and 123:
Root-movement is quite unpredictabl
Page 124 and 125:
124
Page 126 and 127:
Superficially they have much in com
Page 128 and 129:
situations; but his influence outla
Page 130 and 131:
130
Page 132 and 133:
ounded too closely by early Methodi
Page 134 and 135:
At first the real focus of attentio
Page 136 and 137:
surprisingly grammatical, confirmin
Page 138 and 139:
138
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the subject (where again he seems n
Page 142 and 143:
in Bath) recommended that Charles
Page 144 and 145:
have, to a head-injury sustained in
Page 146 and 147:
146
Page 148 and 149:
The ending is rather curious: he re
Page 150 and 151:
hectic week, he could choose betwee
Page 152 and 153:
152
Page 154 and 155:
even have had an informal agreement
Page 156 and 157:
Unlike Handel, however, there no tu
Page 158 and 159:
Throughout the nineteenth century t
Page 160 and 161:
Here, however (especially once the
Page 162 and 163:
162
Page 164 and 165:
published separately over the next
Page 166 and 167:
166
Page 168 and 169:
Likewise does the fugue subject of
Page 170 and 171:
A little more Bach can be seen, per
Page 172 and 173:
attitudes were representative, or e
Page 174 and 175:
consciously parodying his Methodist
Page 176 and 177:
his nature to be exclusive about an
Page 178 and 179:
elieve) in German, the compleatly w
Page 180 and 181:
no other way one could hear operas,
Page 182 and 183:
a stretto treatment (at one minim
Page 184 and 185:
have had a rich Treat in chewing th
Page 186 and 187:
admirable Musick might be played in
Page 188 and 189:
At this point one might have expect
Page 190 and 191:
This is soon accompanied by quaver
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The C minor entry in b.50 destabili
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WESLEY’S LAST YEARS During this p
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Wilhelm Friedemann (see chapter 1).
Page 198 and 199:
describes it well: ‘The concertan
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with sixteen-part orchestra’ (Car
Page 202 and 203:
would be of interest to a budding c
Page 204 and 205:
wrestling with the problem of integ
Page 206 and 207:
Clearly, Haydn is letting fugal thi
Page 208 and 209:
By contrast, the fugue which closes
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unknown in any other Haydn fugue (a
Page 212 and 213:
around b.54, homophonic quaver figu
Page 214 and 215:
very little to it, which is of cour
Page 216 and 217:
When Haydn wrote string quartets, t
Page 218 and 219:
place, socially and musically; and
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of the minuet, both here and in man
Page 222 and 223:
The distinction that Kirkendale dre
Page 224 and 225:
variety of keys as well: not just I
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detail. As far as the tastes of Pri
Page 228 and 229:
constructed in an entirely new mann
Page 230 and 231:
Note the extent to which Haydn’s
Page 232 and 233:
A clear example of this can be seen
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Haydn would write only one more fug
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At any rate, the effect of later ei
Page 238 and 239:
appears not wholly to satisfy Kirke
Page 240 and 241:
Junker and others were neither part
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sentimental’ (c.1814?), Haydn’s
Page 244 and 245:
intensity of the debate? This is ho
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is an almost perfect instrument for
Page 248 and 249:
CHAPTER 4 MOZART, FINISHED AND UNFI
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as such—at times even creating th
Page 252 and 253:
thought and practice until very rec
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sonata movement sets up certain exp
Page 256 and 257:
organ music: from the death of J. S
Page 258 and 259:
(to us) the direct influence of J.
Page 260 and 261:
and back without a sign that anythi
Page 262 and 263:
is not necessarily at variance with
Page 264 and 265:
conclusion is not perfectly in acco
Page 266 and 267:
there can be no doubt that Mozart,
Page 268 and 269:
to enclose your letter to me?’ 35
Page 270 and 271:
The Dean was in a state of great ex
Page 272 and 273:
‘passive’ voices; Ex.4.5 shows
Page 274 and 275:
274
Page 276 and 277:
276
Page 278 and 279:
against itself, augmented and inver
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Andante also found favour, but part
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enewed application to this task. Wh
Page 284 and 285:
for a child of twelve. The subject
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These masses mark the two poles of
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After this exposition the cadential
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is a much less dramatic tale, of ca
Page 292 and 293:
happened, on October 26 1783 at Ben
Page 294 and 295:
the voices. There is a single expos
Page 296 and 297:
ascending, descending (or both), st
Page 298 and 299:
298
Page 300 and 301:
(apart from particella for wind and
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up to Mozart’s standard, the melo
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weight than Süssmayr’s say-so. B
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crisis [Lebenskrise] from which, in
Page 308 and 309:
all, please few with counterpoint a
Page 310 and 311:
of much that was excellent’. 3 In
Page 312 and 313:
continually surpass his own creativ
Page 314 and 315:
This ethical approach to music, so
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Like Mozart, Beethoven was a great
Page 318 and 319:
There are a few reasonably complete
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It is, in part, a question of autho
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voice ‘Parthie’, an oboe concer
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although it is in a different key;
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which had such a similar subject (E
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328
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his early life is there a single re
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‘Metaphorically, Beethoven was al
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On the other hand, whilst there is
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of a sort that has if anything tend
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To thus posit ‘lateness’ about
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historical development; 61 all thes
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These critics were not necessarily
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could anyone have expected that Bee
Page 346 and 347:
hear it more often. Well, once more
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development came the flood of ‘mu
Page 350 and 351:
Sometimes, it is just noise, in the
Page 352 and 353:
At times, so eccentric are his text
Page 354 and 355:
eighteenth century; and however muc
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Carpani; from the time he entered E
Page 358 and 359:
His opp.1bis, 5, and 6, however, (p
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360
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nineteenth century—the style of H
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364
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movement. There is no danger of irr
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time, whereas the glory of many a B
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On the other hand, the tonal range
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It is with some surprise that we he
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A canon at the fourth below, ‘we
Page 376 and 377:
Clementi. In this respect the issue
Page 378 and 379:
turns out to be none other than our
Page 380 and 381:
None of these, in any case, remotel
Page 382 and 383:
traditional form.’ 125 Weber expr
Page 384 and 385:
Arioso into the rest of the movemen
Page 386 and 387:
eturned by b.248. On the other hand
Page 388 and 389:
grise, it nevertheless exerts consi
Page 390 and 391:
century fugal writing more satisfac
Page 392 and 393:
CONCLUSION ‘Like most other disci
Page 394 and 395:
from Fux to Haydn to Bruckner was n
Page 396 and 397:
were written for the organ. 7 While
Page 398 and 399:
prelude/fugue pair. Perhaps rather
Page 400 and 401:
practice is less concerned with the
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Baroque, but did so subtly, without
Page 404 and 405:
periodicity and its fluctuating ton
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eauty with ‘an excess of art.’
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(op.35/1) is a model of textural co
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410
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inhospitable to fugue.’ 30 To the
Page 414 and 415:
W. F. Bach, Fugue in F minor BRA 88
Page 416 and 417:
Exx.2.11-13 S. Wesley, ‘4 Fugues
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Chapter 4 Mozart, finished and unfi
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ed. Joseph Joachim and Andreas Mose
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BIBLIOGRAPHY [anon.] ‘The organ r
Page 424 and 425:
Beethoven, Ludwig van, The letters
Page 426 and 427:
Brown, Clive, ‘Perspectives on Be
Page 428 and 429:
______ Beethoven (Oxford: Oxford Un
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zu Köln 1998, 315-321. ______ and
Page 432 and 433:
Fisk, Josiah, ‘Classical music an
Page 434 and 435:
______ ‘The “Grosse Fuge”: an
Page 436 and 437:
1967). Horowitz, Joseph, ‘Mozart
Page 438 and 439:
______ Fugue and fugato in Rococo a
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und ihrer frühen Rezeption’, Arc
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(1991). MacArdle, Donald W., ‘Bee
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contrappunto sopra il canto fermo (
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Nicolosi, Robert, T. S. Eliot and m
Page 448 and 449:
______ Double counterpoint and cano
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Routh, Francis, Early English organ
Page 452 and 453:
Schwarz, John I. jr, ‘Samuel and
Page 454 and 455:
______ ‘Beethoven’s ninth symph
Page 456 and 457:
Record, 90 (1960), 163-74. ______
Page 458 and 459:
and Baroque’, Church, stage, and
Page 460 and 461:
Winter, Robert S., ‘Of realizatio
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