Feldmahler1

Feldmahler
02November2006
AnAnalysisoftheFirstMovementofMozart'sK.465inRelationtotheIdeaofRhetoricandOration
I. Introduction
While there are several analytical studies of the famous introduction to Mozart's Dissonant
QuartetK.465,fewofthesestudieselaborateontherelevanceofthisintroductiontotherestofthefirst
movement.Yet,ifwearetofollowtheideaofmusicasrhetoricaspropoundedbyEnlightenmentwriters
withregardstoinstrumentalmusic,themostnaturalandcrucialfollowupanalysiswouldbetoseehow
theideasinthisextraordinaryintroductionarestatedandelaborateduponintherestofthepiece.An
notableexceptiontothisisMarkEvanBonds,whodidindeeddoabriefanalysisofK.465inhisbook.
Yet,notonlyisitextremelybrief,italsoseemstomissthemainideaofthepieceitself,whichrather
weakensthisexampleinhisargumentfortheideaofrhetoricinclassicalmusic.
Toremedythisanalyticaldefect,wewillfirstbrieflydiscussanddefinethisideaofrhetoricwhich
wearetryingtomeasureK.465against.Wewillthenengageinadetailedanalysisofthefirstmovement
ofK.465,andfindoutwhethertheseideasalsoapplytoK.465.
II.TheIdeaofRhetoricinInstrumentalMusic
Koch wroteinhis MusikalischesLexikon of1802thatrhetoricisthenamegiven by some
teachersofmusictothatbodyofknowledgebelongingtocompositionbywhichindividualmelodic
sectionsareunitedintoawhole,accordingtoadefinitepurpose(qtd.inBonds53),or,aslaterother
writers putit,unityinvariety(Bonds98).Indeed,asBondsnotes,rhetoricinmost18thcentury

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writingsiscloselytiedtobroaderconceptualissuesoflargescaleform(Bonds53).
Andinthisissueoflargescaleform,the Hauptsatz occupiesadominantposition.Kirnberger
defines Hauptsatz asaperiodwithinamusicalworkthatincorporatestheexpressionandthewhole
essenceofthemelody(qtd.inBonds94).TheimplicationsofthisideaofaHauptsatzseemstwofold.
Ononehand,itsupportstheideaofunityinvariety,whichBondscallsoneofthemostimportant
aestheticdoctrinesoftheeighteenthcentury(Bonds98).Ontheotherhand,italsosupportstoacertain
extenttheideaofmusicasoration,1 inthesensethatthe Hauptsatz canbeseenasthethesisofthe
oration;andsinceideas...flowoutoftheHauptsatz(Marpurg,qtd.inBonds102),therestofthepiece
canalsoconceivablybeparalleledwiththerestoftheoration,allofwhichisinsomesortofrelationto
theHauptsatz.Morespecifically,Matthesonarguesthatanentiremusicalworkmustobservethesame
six parts that are normally prescribed for the orator, namely: the introduction, the narration, the
proposition, the proof, the refutation, and the closing, otherwise known as: Exordium, Narratio,
Propositio,Confirmatio,Confutatio,andPeroratio(Bonds8586).Herewemustnotethedichotomy
betweenthegeneral(unityinvariety)andthespecific(structureofanoration).Yetthisissurelyfar
fromablackandwhitesituation;rather,itcanbeseenasaspectrum,withthegeneralatoneend,andthe
specificattheotherend.
ItisindeedfromthisvantagepointofrhetoricthatweapproachtheanalysisofK.465,toconfirm,
first,whetherthepiececonformstotheideaofrhetoricatall,andifitdoes,thedegreetowhichit
conformswiththespecificintheideaofrhetoric.However,asBondsnotes,one'sevaluationofthe
1

BondsnotesthatMatthesoncallsthemusicalworkaKlangrede,anorationinnotes(Bonds85).

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relationship among thematic ideas in any individual work or movement depends largely upon one's
broaderbeliefin(orskepticismtoward)theverylegitimacyofsuchconnections(Bonds101).Iwillnot
pretendthatIamcompletelyneutralonthissubject,butwillinsteadallowtheanalysistospeakforitself.
III. TheIdea2
Bondsnotesthattherearetwomotifs,whichhecallsmotifsaandb,3thatareexpandedupon
and varied throughoutthemovement,yethefailstonotethecrucialimportanceoftherelationship
betweenthetwomotifsontheentirepiece.Indeed,ifthereisoneIdeathatgovernstheentiremovement,
itwouldbethisrelationship,andnotthetwomotifsthemselves.Thisisnottosaythatthetwomotifsare
trivial(theyarenot),butratherthatthetwomotifsarethemselvesmerelymanifestations,ratherthanthe
essenceof,thisIdea.
ThemostobviousmanifestationofthisIdeaisindeedquitedirect:theamountofsheercontrast
between the introduction and the movement proper is astounding. Not only do we emerge from
dissonanceintoconsonance,minorintomajor,butthereisalsoapeculiarchangefromameterto
common time.This wealthofcontrasts between eventhegeneral senseoftheintroduction and the
movementpropershouldgivehintsastotheidentityofthisfundamentalIdeathatMozartattemptsto
expoundinthismovement(ifnottheentirework).AsSimonKeefepointsout,theanalogyofdarkness
tolightisacommondescriptionofthecontrastbetweentheintroductionandthemovementproperin
2

WhileKirnbergernotesthattheHauptsatz isgenerallycalledthe'theme'(Bonds94),wewillusethe
wordIdeaasasynonymfortheHauptsatzinthefollowinganalysistoavoidconfusion.
AccordingtoBonds,motifaisadescendingline,andbanascendingline(Bonds102103).Notethat
forthepurposesofthisanalysistherhythmofthemotifwillnotbeconsidered,inordertoconcentrateon
themotif,andavoidanoverlybroadscopeofdiscussion.

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secondaryliterature(90).Itisalso,however,ametaphorthatseemstofitwiththeIdeaverywell.
Itisalsointhecontextofthiscontrastbetweendarknessandlightthatwecanfullyunderstandthe
relationshipbetweenBonds'stwomotifs.Indeed,toevensaythattherearetwomotifsthatgovernthe
piecewouldbetocompletelymissthepoint,forthereisonlyonemotif.WhatBondscallsthebmotif
istheantithesisoftheamotif:notonlyisittechnicallytheretrogradeorinversionofa,itistreated
asanantithesisthroughoutthemovement,asweshallseeshortly.Anditispreciselythisthatdetermines
theentirestructureofthepiece,renderingthenotionofanalyzingthepieceintermsofsonataform
superficial,andonlyusefulinsofarasitgivesusthemostgeneralsenseofstructure.
Itmustalsobenotedthatthismotifitselfisnotarbitrary.Itis,insofarastheIdeaisconcerned,the
bestmotif.ForinboththisIdeaanditscorrespondingmotif,weseereligious/philosophicalinfluenceson
music.Inmanywesternreligions(nottheleastofwhichbeingChristianity),weseemanyinstancesof
dualism:forexample,heavenvs.hell,lightvs.darkness.Anotherparallelinthisdualismwouldbeascent
vs.descent,andtheideaoftheascenttoheaven(orthelight)andthedescenttohell(ordarkness).When
werealizethis,thereasonforthechoiceofthisparticularmotif(anditsantithesis)onwhichtoexpound
theIdeabecomesobvious.
IV.TheIntroductionofK.465
NowthatwehaveageneralsenseoftheIdeathatdrivesthispiece,itisnecessarytofindouthow
thisideastructurestheentirepiece,andwewillbeginthistaskbyexaminingtheintroductionitself.Due
tothepopularityofthisintroductionwithmusictheorists,thereareavarietyofexcellentanalysisofthe

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harmonicimplicationsandcrossrelationsintheintroduction.4However,thisisnotthestyleofanalysis
thatwewilltake,sinceweareinterestedmoreinthemotivicaspectoftheintroduction.5
Bonds,amongmanyotherwriters,notedtheusageofthedescendingmotifinthechromaticcello
linefromm.1tom.12.6However,thereisanotherlayerinthemusicthatisatleastasimportant;andthis
wouldbethelinesofthethreeotherinstruments.Indeed,allofthemstartwithashortversionofthe
descending motif, followed immediately by the ascending motif, which not only neatly ends that
particularphrase,butalsolaysouttheIdea.Eventhecelloitselfalternatesbetweenthedescendingand
ascendingmotifs:immediatelyaftertheendingalongexpositionofthedescendingmotifonm.12,the
ascendingmotifisintroducedinm.13,onlytobecontradictedagainonebarlaterbythedescending
motif.Duringthistime,theotherinstrumentshavenotbeenidle;thedensepolyphonyischalkfullof
alternatingstatementsofbothascendinganddescendingmotifs,mostlyinastrongchromaticversionof
themotifs.Allthiscomestoatemporaryhaltonm.16,wherethemusicentersintoalimbolikestate,
untilaheavilymodifieddiatonicversionoftheascendingmotifappearsinthecelloinm.19.Yetanother
versionoftheascendingmotifappearsinbothviolinsabarlater(m.20),andwhichalsobringsthe
4

HereIreferthereadertoWilliamDeFotis,"Rehearings:Mozart,QuartetinC,K.465."19 thCenturyMusic
6.1(1982):3138,andSimonP.Keefe,"AnIntegrated'Dissonance':Mozart's'Haydn'Quartetsandthe
SlowIntroductionofK.465."MozartJahrbuch2002(2002):87103.
Aclarificationoftheexactmeaningsoftheascendinganddescendingmotifsisinorder.Itismore
accuratetocallthemtheascendinganddescendingvariationsofthemotif,butisinconvenientheredueto
thewordiness,andsoascendingmotifanddescendingmotifareusedinstead,eventhoughitisreally
thesamemotif.Also,bothmeanascalarline(thestrongversionbeingchromaticandtheweakerdiatonic),
and does not include arpeggios, unless it is a clear variation of some version of the motif (ex. the
arpeggiatedvariationoftheversionoftheascendingmotifstatedinthefirsttheme,whichisusedinthe
development section). The exclusion of normal arpeggios is due to the fact that they are common as
harmonicaccompanimentduringthatperiod.
ThescoreusedisfromtheNeueMozartAusgabe.

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introductiontoaclose.WecanseeinthisintroductionaveryclearpresentationofthefundamentalIdea
thatgovernstheentirepiece,namelythejuxtapositionofascentanddescent,orinabroadersenselight
anddarkness.
Anotherinterestingwaytoanalyzetheeffectofthispassagewithregardstotheideaofrhetoricis
presentedbyKeefe.Sincethisintroductionwouldbetheequivalenttotheexordiuminanoratorio,Keefe
quotesCiceroasdistinguishingbetweentwotypesofexordium:thedirectprincipium,andtheindirect
insinuatio.Theintroductionwouldbeanexemplarymodelfortheinsinuatioapproach,sincethevoices
creepinquietlyonebyone,graduallyandalmostimperceptiblyincreasingthenumberofpartsfromone
totwo,three,four,withunobtrusivesubjectsavoidinglargeleapsorfasterrhythms(Kierkendale,qtd.in
Keefe99),whichisexactlythedescriptionofinsinuatioinmusic.7Bothmethodsofanalysisagreethat
thisintroductioncanbestronglyparalleledtotheexordiuminanoration.
V. TheExpositionofK.465
WhatcanbecalledthefirstthemeofK.465isessentiallymanyrepetitionsofadiatonicversion8
oftheascendingmotifstrungtogether.Thisalsodictatesthegeneralsenseoftheentiresectionofmusic
until the entrance of the theme in the dominant at m. 56; here the ascending motif dominates
completely,althoughthereareafewstatementsofthedescendingmotif(seethenicealterationinthe
violinsbetweentheascendinganddescendingmotifsfromthesecondhalfofm.35tom.37 9).Eventhe
7
8

ThewholeparagraphpriortothisfootnoteisasummaryofKeefe'sargumentonp.99.
Bydiatonic,Imeanascaleinwhichnotwoadjacentintervalsarebothsemitones,andbychromatic,
everythingelse.
Oneshouldnoteheretheuseofpianowiththedescendingmotifandsforzandowiththeascendingmotif,
suggestingthedominanceoftheascendingmotif.Thiswillbereversedinthesecondtheme,asweshall
seeshortly.

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transition,startingatm.44withthecello,isdominatedmostlybytheascendingmotif,thoughitdoes
introducewhatBondscallthenotterriblysignificantvariationofapreviousidea(103).Whileperhaps
beingnotterriblysignificant,itdoescontributetoanotherweaktwovoice10variationoftheascending
motifthatwillbeintroducedlateroninthesecondtheme.
Thesecondthemestartsonm.56withanoisyandboldstatementofthethesisinthefirstviolin,
tobeimmediatelyfollowedbytheweaktwovoicevariationoftheascendingmotif.Thisversionofthe
ascendingmotifisratherhesitant;itisnotasselfaffirmingasotherversionsespeciallyinthiscontext
sincenotonlyisitnotastraightscalarline,itisalsoplayedmostlypiano,incontrasttothedescending
motif,whichisplayedforte.11Theharmonicprogressionthataccompaniesitfromm.60tom.67isalso
quiteunstable,withthemovementaroundthecircleoffifths.Thisdestabilizationofwhatwasastable
ascendingmotifcanbeseenasareactiontotheboldentry(orreentry,iftheIntroductionisincluded)of
thedescendingmotifitself.Thisoppositionofdescendingandascendingmotifsdoesnotgetresolvedin
thisportionofthesecondthematicarea;instead,thelimbomusiccomesbackforonemeasureatm.72,
functioningsimilartoanintroductiontothesecondhalfofthesecondthematicarea.
Thesecondhalfofthesecondthematicareastarts,motivically,onthesecondhalfofm.73.While
thismightatfirstseemtonotbeinanywayasplittingpointstructurally(andmaystillnotbe;m.72
seemslikeamuchbettersplittingpoint),itismotivicallyofcrucialimportance;astrongchromatic
versionofthedescendingmotifisalmostsimultaneouslyintroducedinallfourinstruments.Thisisalso,

10
11

Twovoicebecauseitcanbeseenastwoascendingmotifsathirdapartcompressedintooneline.
Asnotedbefore,thisisareverseofwhathappenedinthefirsttheme(seefootnote9above).

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ofcourse,thefirstintroductionofthechromaticdescendingmotifsincetheIntroductionitself.Andthe
significanceofthisisnotlostontherestoftheexposition;almostimmediatelyafterthischromatic
descendingmotifentrance,12therearestatementsofthedescendingmotifeverywhere(anduninterrupted
too),untilm.86.Thisissimilartothedominanceoftheascendingmotifinthefirstthematicarea;hereit
isthedescendingmotifassertingitsdominanceovertheascendingmotif.
This dominance of the descending motif, however, is broken by the same instrument that
originallyintroducedit,inm.87,withasweepingfortestatementoftheascendingmotifthatspansmore
than2octaves.Ascanbeexpected,themusicenterslimbo13againforthreemeasuresafterwards(m.
8891),whilecadencingstronglyonG.Afterthecadence(m.91),weenterasectionthatcanbecalled
theclosingtheme,sinceinthissectionthedescendingandascendingmotifsaresynthesized.Weseea
returnofthesamevariationoftheascendingmotifusedinthefirsttheme,butthistime,duetothe
contrast with previous statements of the ascending motif in the second thematic area, seem not as
assertive:notonlyisitplayedpiano,italsousesplaineighthnotes,incontrasttothetripleteighthsor
sixteenthsusedinthesecondthematicareaforstatementsofboththeascendinganddescendingmotifs.
Alsonotethatthedescendingmotifcomesbackandalternateswiththeascendingmotifafewbarsinto
thesection,breakingwhateverdominancetheascendingmotifhadleft(ifithadanyinthissectionatall).
Thisculminatesinthesectionclimaxatm.103,whenbothascendinganddescendingmotifsarestated
together,withtwoinstrumentsplayingeach,aperfectsynthesis.NotealsothepoignantAflatinthe
12

13

Thereisindeedonebarof limbo music(m.76)rightafterthestatementofthechromaticdescending

motif,butthiscaneasilybeseenasaphrasingrequirement.
This,unlikethepreviouslimbo,doesnotusethelimboideafromtheIntroduction,butitdoeshavethe
samesenseofhovering,withminimal(linewise,notharmonywise)senseofdirection.

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cello;notonlydoesitseemlikeanechooftheAnatural/AflatcrossrelationintheIntroduction(thereis
ahighAnaturalinthefirstviolinthe8thnotedirectlybefore),italsofurtherhighlightstheimportanceof
thissectionclimax.
VI. TheDevelopment
ThedevelopmentsectionofK.465startsonm.107andendsonm.154.Interestingly,theentire
sectioncanbecalledaretransitioninthesensethatoneofitsmainpurposesistotransitionfromthe
synthesisbacktotheascendingmotifdominatedfirsttheme.Indeed,amidallthelimbolikeideasand
harmonicinstability,weonlyseestatementsoftheascendingmotif,boththefirstthemeversionofit,and
anarpeggiatedvariationofthatversion,withnotasinglestatementofthedescendingmotif.14 This
section,intheorationschema,canbeseenassomethingsimilartotheproof;somethingtoreassertthe
dominanceoftheascendingmotif.
VII.TheRecapitulation
Therecapitulationstartsinm.155,andmainlyfollowsthesetupoftheexposition.However,like
allrecapitulationsinsonatas,therearechanges,anditisthesechangesthatwewillconcernourselves
withinthissection,especiallychangesaffectingthemotifs.
Themainchangesintherecapitulationarenotdirectlyrelatedtothemotifs;theyaremainly
concernedwiththeenrichmentofharmonictexture(doubledlines,increasedpolyphony).However,the
transitionismostlycutout(exceptforthecadenceattheend),ratherthantransposedormodified,which
14

There are some arpeggiated downward movement at the end, but they are not directly related (as a
variation)toanyversionofthedescendingmotif, andcanbeseeninthiscontextasanaestheticwayof
closingthedevelopmentsection:itsetsupalittlecontrastsothatthereturnofthefirstthemesounds
fresh.

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considerablylessensthejuxtapositionoftheascendinganddescendingmotifs.Itsabsencealsolessens
theexpectationofthesecondthematicareasincethereisnoprolongedbuildup.Ofcourse,thefactthat
thedescendingmotif(i.e.secondthematicarea)comesbackinthetonickeyalsocontributestothis.
Thebeginningofthecoda(whichstartsonm.227)isthesameasthedevelopmentsection,which
maywellbeintentional:tomakeitseemlikethereisarepeat.However,itquicklyveersaway,intowhat
seemsalmostlikeasummaryofthedevelopment,withprolongedharmonicinstabilityforthefirst5bars
(along with statements of a fairly strong semichromatic version of the ascending motif, and some
limbomusic),followedbyastrongcadenceinthetonic(m.235).Thenwehavewhatcanbeseenasa
celebrationofthedominanceoftheascendingmotifoverthedescendingmotif(orlightoverdarkness),
withmultiplefortestatementsofthearpeggiatedversionoftheascendingmotifthatwasusedinthe
developmentsection.Yet,theendingisofsynthesis;note,inm.241tom.244,thateventhoughthemost
immediatelynotablelineisthefirstviolinplayingtheascendingmotif,boththesecondviolinandviola
playthedescendingmotifinhalfnotes.
VIII.RelationshipofAnalysistotheIdeaofRhetoric
Afterthisanalysis,therelationshipofK.465totheideaofrhetoricshouldbeclear.Indeed,one
canevencallK.465anexemplaryexampleoftheideaofrhetoric;thecoherenceofthemusic,motivically
speaking,isstunning.Itisalsowiththisanalysisthatwemayconclude,notonlythatideasintherestof
thepiece[flow]outoftheHauptsatz[orIdea](Bonds102),butthatitdoessotothepointthattheIdea
itselfdictatestheform,ratherthanfollowit.Alsotobenotedhereisthefactthat,eventhoughthepiece
doesnotfollowtheorationschemaexactly,itdoeshavethemainelementsofit:theexordium/narratio

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(introduction),propositio(firsttheme),confirmatio(developmentsection15),confutatio(secondtheme),
andtheperoratio(synthesis,i.e.coda).
Onemaywellsay,afterreadingthisanalysis,thattheideabeingpostulatedasthemainHauptsatz
ofthepieceistoogeneral;indeed,scalesofallsortscanbeseeninmany,perhapsmost,classicalpieces.
Indefense,Iwilldrawattentiontotheamountofscalarmotioninthispiece,andthepositioninthe
structureofthemovementthattheyoccupy.Bothwhatcanbecalledthefirstandsecondthemesare
heavilyscalar;thefirstbeingaseriesascendingscalesstrungtogether,andthesecondbeingastrong
(loud)andlongdescendingscalefollowedbyatimidascendingresponse.Whilescalesareindeed
commonlyusedduringtheclassicalperiod,fewworksexhibitsuchstrictscalarmotionintheirvery
themes;forexample,noneoftheotherfiveHaydnQuartets16havesuchstrictlyscalarthemes,especially
withsuchclearscalarcontrast(ascendingvs.descending)betweenthefirstandsecondthemes.
Circumstantialevidence,especiallyseeminglycommonones,cannotprovetheintentionofthe
composer,butwhenenoughpointtothesamesource,itisimpossibleforustoignoreitcompletely.
Indeed, it can even be asked whether it is necessary to prove intention; for, as Mattheson puts it,
experiencedmastersproceedinanorderlymanner,evenwhentheydonotthinkaboutit(qtd.inBonds
87).

15

16

Thedevelopmentsectioncanbeseenasrelatedtotheproof(confirmatio)inthesensethatitreassertsthe
dominanceofthefirsttheme,afteritwasdisplacedbythesecondinthesecondthematicarea.
K.387,421(K6.417b),428(K6.421b),458,and464.

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WorksConsulted
Bonds,MarkEvan.WordlessRhetoric:MusicalFormandtheMetaphoroftheOration.
Cambridge,Mass.:HarvardUniversityPress,1991.
DeFotis,William.Mozart,QuartetinC,K.465.19thCenturyMusic6.1(1982):3138.
Eisen,Cliff.Mozart'sChamberMusic.TheCambridgeCompaniontoMozart.Ed.SimonP.Keefe.
Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2003.105117.
Keefe,SimonP.AnIntegrated'Dissonance':Mozart's'Haydn'QuartetsandtheSlowIntroductionof
K.465.MozartJahrbuch(2002):87103.
LaRue,Jan.TheHaydnDedicationQuartets:AllusionorInfluence?TheJournalofMusicology18.2
(Spring,2001):361373.
Mozart,WolfgangAmadeus.NeueAusgabesmtlicherWerke:StringQuartetK.465.
Ed.ErnstFritzSchmid.Kassel:Barenreiter,1958.
Vertrees,JulieAnne.Mozart'sStringQuartetK.465:TheHistoryofaControversy.
CurrentMusicology17(1974):96114.