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MARK RICHARDS
Charged with the task of confirming the new key in the exposition and res
to the home key in the recapitulation, the second theme group performs pe
the defining actions of any sonata form.1 Although Classical works provide
instances of a clear beginning to this crucial part of the form, in a signif
proportion of works the beginning of the second theme (ST) cannot be so
discerned, especially in works from Beethoven's middle and late period
sequently, debate continues to surround the issue, particularly in the w
James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy and that of William E. Caplin
problem is that no matter how powerful a single rule may be, no rule by its
identify all those locations which may be considered an ST beginning.
known, for instance, is Hepokoski and Darcy's mandate that c if there is no
caesura , there is no secondary theme ' (2006, p. 52; emphasis in original).
less well-known is that, in rare cases, the authors allow an ST to be exp
without the textural gap of a medial caesura, as in the first movement of H
Piano Sonata in B Major, Hob. XVI:52.3 On the other hand, while in hi
Caplin stipulates that an ST begins with a unit of initiating function
supported by tonic harmony, in a more recent writing he cites seve
Beethoven's STs in which the initiating unit prolongs dominant harmony.4
Clearly, then, an ST is defined by more than a single principle, and for
reason I contend that there are several indications which contribute to its
expression. One may therefore understand the initial ST of a movement to be
synthesis of musical signals which, taken together, allow a passage to be p
ceived as the first syntactically complete set of formal functions (at the very le
a beginning and end) which centres on the secondary key of the moveme
Thus, an ST is not merely a full-fledged theme set in the new key, but rather
theme in the new key that is articulated by one or more reinforcing signals wh
render that theme perceptible.5 Not all signals appear with every initial ST, n
are they necessarily in their clearest state when they do appear: an ST may st
be expressed when some of the most familiar signals are considerably weakene
or even absent. Consequently, STs have many possible degrees of expressi
obviating the need to decide between all-or-nothing levels of expression in cas
that seem to hover somewhere between the two. Moreover, this spectrum
possibilities allows us to understand how STs, and sometimes entire ST groups,
may be engaged in a dynamic process which seeks to compensate for weakness
Music Analysis © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
and 350 Main Street, Maiden, MA 02148, USA
constitutes the formal functions of beginning and end, and when is this si
a strong state? Themes begin with a basic idea , a unit of structure which is
two bars in length, comprises two or more motives and, perhaps most imp
emphasises tonic harmony.18 Conversely, the end of a theme is gener
nalled by a cadential function , which includes two features. First, an
obviously, it is based on a cadential progression, which in its fullest form
the harmonies of tonic-pre-dominant-dominant-tonic, the final two
always being in root position. Second, and more subtly, it must always fo
initiating unit of structure (at the very least, a single basic idea), thus pr
an 'end of something'.19
Because harmonic aspects are the most significant in determining a phr
formal functions, they also determine whether a beginning or end is art
in a strong or weak state. A strong-state beginning is based on new-ke
harmony, either as part of a tonic prolongation or as the goal of a ha
sequence (as in vi-ii-V-I and its variants).20 But the tonic is not the
harmony on which a beginning function may be based: as mentioned earl
good number are supported by dominant harmony, especially in Beethove
Caplin points out, however, it is important to distinguish among three d
types of dominant harmony which begin a theme: (1) those which becom
prolongational within the basic idea, (2) those which prolong the tonic ha
over a dominant pedal and (3) those which prolong the dominant through
initiating unit.22 Of these situations, the first two represent strong-stat
nings because they prolong the tonic. In the second situation specifica
sense of a beginning remains strong even though the dominant reigns on
global level, since on the local level (that which defines small-scale formal
functions) the prolongation is of tonic harmony. By contrast, the last situation is
weak because prolonged dominant harmonies are usually a sign of an 'after-the-
end' function (i.e. a standing-on-the-dominant) rather than a beginning one, and
hence obscure the function.
As for the end of a theme, a strong state will result when there is a cadential
function, as described above. In most cases, the ST ends with a perfect authentic
cadence (PAC); but not infrequently the first cadence one encounters in the
entire group is a half cadence (HC).23 Because the ST group as a whole requires
a PAC, such an HC is never the last of the group, yet it may occur after a
beginning or medial function (i.e. sentence continuation), thus creating a strong-
state end by providing proper closure to the theme at least on one level of
structure.24
In some cases, a presumed ST end begins to sound cadential harmonies but
evades a final tonic chord, leaving the exposition without a new-key PAC. Can
this still be considered an ST? An answer is suggested by Caplin's distinction
between cadential function and cadential arrival.25 Cadential function involves a
cadential progression heard after at least one initiating unit, whereas a cadential
arrival constitutes the final chord of the entire cadential function. In STs, this
final chord is, of course, usually a tonic. But since such a tonic chord is always
Ex. 2 Beethoven, Cello Sonata in D major, Op. 102 No. 2/i, bars 25-33
The gap of a medial caesura (MC) constitutes another reinforcing signal in the
expression of an ST beginning, its literal or implied textural break separating the
ST from the end of the transition and thus giving the ST a degree of articula-
tion.34 In music of the late eighteenth century, the presence of an MC is virtually
axiomatic, and for this reason Hepokoski and Darcy go so far as to claim that an
ST group cannot exist without an MC. Nevertheless, the authors add that 'any
exception to this principle - a self-evident S [secondary theme] that is not
prepared by a clear MC (and that must be judged as an S for other compelling
reasons) - must be regarded as both highly unusual and deformationaP. Signifi-
cantly, the 'other compelling reasons' they recognise correspond with the other
six signals I propose here. For example, in their discussion of situations with a
'clear S but problematic MC', they suggest two features besides an MC as
possible indications of an ST beginning when they ask:
Moreover, in their elaboration of typical contexts for the MC, they observe f
other features of ST beginnings which correspond with the remaining signals
Immediately following the MC proper (after the implied or actual GP-gap), one
expects to find the launching of a characteristic secondary theme (S) [signal 7] -
which may exemplify any of a number of types .... One of the most common types
features a sudden change of texture after the MC-point [signal 5] , usually com-
bined with a precipitous drop from an energetic forte to piano [signal 6] and the
unfolding of a melody articulating the second expositional key [implying signal
I].35
While the four features listed here apply to movements with an MC gap, there
is no reason to exclude them from movements lacking one. Hence, far from
contradicting the main argument I propose here, these remarks support it by
In the sonata, the cadences are reinforced by a brief pause, sudden changes of
harmonic rhythm, or the appearance of a new theme. The thematic order is
essentially an aspect of texture: the appearance of a new theme - or the reap-
pearance of an old one - marks a clear break in texture when the theme has a
clearly defined, memorable contour; the arrival of a theme enforces a structural
point, makes an event, a moment of articulation. (Rosen 1988, p. 99)
A basic idea acquires its characteristic quality by the nature of its constituent
melodic and rhythmic motives. A diversity of intervallic content (combinations of
leaps, steps, and directional changes) and a variety of durational patterning help
bestow individuality on the idea. Conversely, conventional ideas tend to feature
consistent stepwise or arpeggiated motion within a series of uniform durational
values. (Caplin 1998, p. 37)
As with signals 5 and 6, this reinforcing signal attains a strong state when it is
present, that is, when the melody of the ST can be considered characteristic
rather than conventional. But because of the close relationship between the type
Ex. 5 Beethoven, Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 5 No. 1/i, bars 70-76
Ex. 6 Continued
is a case in point, as its ST beginning has been located either at the start
dominant prolongation in A major at bar 51 (or 52) or at the appearance
fleetingly stable C major at bar 68. Others sidestep the issue by focusing
aspects other than the form but nevertheless imply that the movement
standard sonata form.59 No matter how one parses this exposition, the phen
enon of apparent double MCs clearly does not pertain - and yet there exist t
kinds of tension which are part and parcel of an ST process.
Ex. 6 Continued
But if this true, then at which point does this theme begin, and how do it
weakened signals play out in the rest of the theme? If bar 51 is taken as the
beginning, then we find three signals to be in a strong state: not only is ther
obvious change in texture (signal 5) and dynamic to the normative piano
dynamic (signal 6), but the melodic material (in the first violin) is also charac-
teristic (signal 7), especially in its non-uniform rhythm. At the same time, the
remaining four signals are either weak or absent: the V chord that ends the
transition at bar 5 1 (signal 3) is elided into the ST, and there is no MC gap at
all (signal 4). New-key tonic harmony (signal 1) is much delayed by the lengthy
dominant, eventually arriving in the latter half of bar 55 and again with the PAC
at bar 57. Beginning and end functions (signal 2) are also present, the former
with an initiating four-bar idea presented over dominant harmony and the latter
by three bars of cadential function (bars 5 5-5 7). 60 Although the delay of tonic
harmony weakens both of these signals, that they are nonetheless present satisfies
the two requisites of an ST.
Because the first three of the seven signals all concern harmony (signals 1-3),
their weak states create enormous tonal instability. The ST is therefore driven
forward in search of a stable tonic, something which the PAC of bar 57 seems
adequately to provide. But this tonic is revoked in the very next bar with a return
of the opening material on the dominant (with parts rearranged), reopening the
phrase and undoing the newly attained PAC. This time the expected cadential
function does not arrive, for the theme questions its A major underpinning with
a chromatic diminished triad before landing soundly in C major at bar 68. In
some ways, the stability of this C major plateau makes up for the extremely weak
ST beginning in bar 51, as it provides a solid tonic at what appears to be the
beginning of a new theme. Were this a possible ST beginning, the two requisite
signals may have been strong (had it closed with a C major cadence), but the fact
that the theme starting at bar 5 1 has not yet closed in its proper key of A major
indicates that this C major is subsumed within the larger theme and is destined
not to last.61 The theme is driven forward yet again, and when it f
the sought-after A major at bar 76, a forte celebration bursts fort
firmly fixed to that key with an expanded cadential progression w
repeated with even greater expansion. The entire theme, which com
group, is therefore an extended ST process in which the weakened
5 1 propel the theme forward in search of greater tonal stability.
The above examples demonstrate the effects of ST processes which are con-
tained within a single theme. The effects of weakened signals in an ST process
may, however, extend into one or more successive themes in the new key,
pushing compensatory actions deeper into the exposition. Not only do such
situations increase the already high teleology of the entire ST process, they also
encourage us to hear these multiple themes as a broad unit regardless of whether
one considers them to be part of the ST group or a subsequent closing group.62
In other words, the terminology is far less important than the recognition of the
dynamic process which binds such themes together. For the sake of convenience,
I will refer to all themes within an ST process as STs, though with the under-
standing that new-key themes after the first one may be viewed as closing
themes, depending on one's preferences.
A prime example of a multiple-theme ST process occurs in Mozart's Hunt
Quartet, K. 458, in which five strong-state signals indicate an ST beginning at
bar 47: a half cadence in F is sounded at bar 36 (signal 3) and has its final
dominant chord prolonged through a standing-on-the-dominant until bar 42. A
textural reduction to a single voice then articulates an MC gap (signal 4), which
proceeds with four and a half bars of caesura-fill. At bar 47 there is a change in
texture to full four-part harmony (signal 5), a sudden forte dynamic (signal 6)
and now the trill figure, which, though purely conventional material when
sounded in isolation (as in the MC gap), is paired with a contrasting sigh figure
and thus cleverly transformed into characteristic melodic material (signal 7)
through its lack of uniformity.
The two requisite signals of new-key tonic harmony (signal 1) and begin-
ning and end functions (signal 2) are also present, thus, together with the five
strong signals, expressing an ST beginning at bar 47. But the prolonged domi-
nant is more typical of a continuing standing-on-the-dominant than an ST
beginning, and hence it weakens the requisite signals and sets off an ST
process which seeks a balancing emphasis on tonic harmony. When the tonic
chord finally arrives at bar 51, its effect is minimised by a hushed piano
dynamic which contrasts starkly with the forte of the theme's dominant
opening. And although tonic harmony appears in an arresting forte at both
ends of the cadential function of bars 53-54, its brief existence can hardly be
said to make up for the overpowering dominant of the theme's beginning.
Note, moreover, that the entire theme from bar 47 to bar 54 constitutes an
Theorising about how the start of the ST group is expressed in Classical sonata
forms has proven difficult because composers sometimes override the norms
established for this purpose. It is for this reason that analytical approaches to STs
ought to be broadened to include the seven signals investigated in this essay.
Overall, STs were found never to contain fewer than three of these signals in a
strong (i.e. normative) state; it was further found that STs contain, to some
degree, the two signals of new-key tonic harmony (signal 1) and, at the very least,
the formal functions of beginning and end (signal 2).
This widened view of STs allows us to gain insight into the tonal problems
that are established through deformations in these signals and how they come to
be resolved at a later point (or at several later points) in the ST group, a
technique I have called an ST process. In such cases, the ST beginning appears
significantly weakened and participates in a highly teleological compensatory
process which can span several subsequent themes. The tonal anomalies
encountered in ST processes involve at least one of three deformations: a
non-normative phrase-ending chord preparing the ST, an ST which starts on a
chord other than the new-key tonic (and does not reach the tonic chord until
after the theme's beginning function) and a beginning function to the ST which
is based on harmony other than the new-key tonic.
Through this broadened approach, we also gain an appreciation of how an ST
can remain perceptible in the face of such deformations as the lack of a preceding
MC gap (an integrated ST) and perhaps of a preparatory phrase-ending chord as
well (a spontaneous ST). Moreover, in the music of Beethoven, these deforma-
tions were sometimes found to combine with ST processes, creating an entirely
different sort of ST than was typically found in late eighteenth-century music.
What is obtained when STs are viewed from the vantage point
signals is a sense of the great variety in the degree of expressio
obtain. In other words, an ST beginning is not always the clearly de
which is the Classical norm. Indeed, as we have seen, its obfuscation
manipulation of its various signals is one of the most powerfull
techniques a composer can employ at this pivotal moment in sonata
NOTES
1 . I use the relatively neutral term 'second theme' and its abbrev
order to retain an impartiality with respect to the various appr
analysis of sonata form. In doing so, I hope to allow the valu
contribute to the overall view I present here in a more inclusiv
than would otherwise be possible.
3. For the gapless approach to the ST, see Hepokoski and Darcy (2006), pp.
49 and 117 n. 1.
5. By this definition, not all sonata forms express an ST. Especially in Haydn,
one often encounters another type of exposition in which there is a begin-
ning to the transition and a final PAC to confirm the new key, but no ST
beginning. The structure has been variously named: Larsen calls it a
'three-part' exposition, Caplin an 'obscured boundary between transition
and subordinate theme' and Hepokoski and Darcy a 'continuous exposi-
tion'. See Larsen ([1935-85] 1988), pp. 274-5; Hepokoski and Darcy
(1997), pp. 117-21, and (2006), pp. 51-64; and Caplin (1998), pp. 201-3.
This type of structure may also be found in Mozart and Beethoven. See, for
example, the first movement of Mozart's String Quartet in D minor, K.
421, and the slow movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in F minor, Op.
2 No. 1.
8. Not all sonata forms with deficient ST signals attempt this sort of com-
pensation, especially if the deficiency occurs before the ST. In Beethoven's
Piano Sonata Op. 109, for instance, the ST beginning at bar 9 lacks both
a preparatory chord and the textural gap of a medial caesura but never
attempts to reinstate either of these signals. Rather, the theme is left to
sound as a spontaneous interlude (and thus forms an example of the
spontaneous ST, described further below).
11. The idea that Classical STs always include a stable form of new-key tonic
harmony dates at least back to Marx ([1841-75] 1997), who views the
Seitensatz (i.e. ST) in sonata form as consisting of at least one Satz , which
is a segment of music (large or small) that includes melodic and harmonic
12. A phrase beginning with tonic harmony was a virtual necessity for Tovey in
his readings of ST beginnings. Nowhere is this better expressed than in his
analysis of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony (1935-9, vol. 1, pp. 58-9), in
which he states that 'the beginning of the second subject, like that in the
Eroica Symphony, has often eluded the commentators, in spite of its
containing one of the most important figures ( d) in the movement. The
only difficulty in finding it comes from the habit of searching for something
that looks different on paper, instead of listening for the point at which the
harmony and phrasing settle firmly in the new key'. He then shows the ST
beginning as occurring at bar 130, where there is a new phrase starting on
the tonic of the new key, E major. However, as discussed below, such a
tonal component is not a necessity for an ST beginning and is frequently
omitted in Beethoven. Hence, I would argue that the ST beginning occurs
on the third quaver of bar 1 12 as a result of the preparation by a V chord
(of iii), the change in texture and the characteristic melodic material, all of
which are in a strong state (as defined below). Moreover, this entire phrase
(bars 112-130) expresses both requisite signals: it states new-key tonic
harmony in bars 119 and 130 and contains both beginning and end
functions as a result of its construction as a sentence (bars 112-118 =
presentation; bars 1 19-130 = continuation + cadential material). Note that
in bar 326 of the recapitulation, the tonal anomaly of the ST beginning is
somewhat rectified in that it is now transposed to the right tonic (A),
though still in the wrong mode (minor). Moreover, the second statement of
the basic idea in G# minor has now been eliminated, keeping the tonic
constant for the entire phrase. Beethoven employs practically the same
tactic in the finale (ST starting at bar 63 in the exposition and bar 274 in
the recapitulation).
13. Ratner (1970, pp. 474-5) cites this situation in the finale of
String Quartet in F major, Op. 18 No. 1, and the first move
same composer's Eighth Symphony in what he calls 'false st
second key area. Longyear and Covington (1988, p. 460) reco
their 'Type II Three-Key Exposition' but insist that 'the ini
maintained long enough to give at least an initial impression of
being in that key'. By contrast, I prefer to distinguish the tru
a key by a cadence, which is the means by which keys are
established in the Classical style. Caplin (1998, p. 119) make
argument with respect to such situations.
Unless otherwise indicated, all references to musical works in
are to the first movement only. Examples of an accepted no
key in Beethoven include the String Quintet in C major, Op
(ST in VI and vi); the Waldstein Sonata in C major, bar 35 (S
many other of his middle- and late-period works such as the Str
in Et major, Op. 127, bar 41 (ST in iii); the Piano Sonata in C
Ill, bar 50 (ST in VI); and the Ninth Symphony, bar 74 (ST
example of a non-normative key which implies that it will be a
is then supplanted occurs in the Violin Sonata, Op. 12 No.
begins in a prepared vi key but quickly modulates, eventually c
the normative V key of E major). Examples of a false non-norm
include the String Trio in C minor, Op. 9 No. 3, bar 21 (ST
but moves quickly to III), and the Violin Sonata in G major,
3, bar 35 (ST begins in iii and eventually moves to V).
14. Longyear and Covington refer to this situation as a 'Type I
Exposition' (1988, p. 449), Caplin as a type of 'modulating su
theme' (1998, p. 119), Hepokoski and Darcy as a type of 'tonally-
migratory' S theme (2006, p. 120) and Home as a type of 'oblique approach
to the second key' (2006, p. Ill; emphasis in original).
15. As Webster (1978, p. 26) has pointed out with respect to Schubert's
'Quartettsatz', the fact that the first key of the ST group (At major) forms
'a closed period' (i.e. achieves cadential closure) marks a significant dif-
ference from Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, where the ST's first key (Et
major) moves into the second (G minor) without being solidified by a
PAC. Although the 'Quartettsatz' would, in this respect, seem to be a
development of Classical procedures in general, it would be more accurate
to view it as a development of Beethoven's practices in particular, since it
was only with him that the procedure became something of a regularity.
After all, as Webster notes elsewhere (1991, p. 18), the suggestion of two
competing keys in the ST group, which, he remarks, occurs in the Farewell
Symphony, 'is found nowhere else in Haydn'. Moreover, Longyear and
Covington (1988), pp. 449-50, indicate lone examples from Gluck and
C.P.E. Bach as possible precedents.
35. See Hepokoski and Darcy (2006), pp. 117, 117 n. 1, 48 and 36.
36. See Hepokoski and Darcy (2006), pp. 40-5. On pp. 34-5, Mozart's K. 31 1
appears as these authors' example of an MC that contains a pickup to S.
38. I discuss obscured MCs more fully in 'Beethoven and the Obscured Medial
Caesura'.
39. Rosen (1997, pp. 57 and 64) discusses textural change in the context of
'articulated phrase', which also includes the elements of periodicity a
symmetry.
40. One movement that lacks a textural change is the finale of Beethove
Pastoral Symphony, discussed in the section 'Other Sonata Deformations
in ST Signals and Their Combination'.
41. See the discussion in the section 'Signal 7' for more detail on expressive
types for STs.
43. Hepokoski and Darcy (2006, p. 132) seem to suggest this idea when they
state that 'the piano convention [to ST beginnings] may have been devised
as a means of setting this relaunch into relief.
44. As Hepokoski and Darcy (2006, p. 136) argue, 'S-themes that begin forte
often compensate for MCs that are unusually weak. This can occur when
45. Examples in which this caveat changes the state which the sign
have otherwise assumed include Mozart's String Quartet in D m
499 {piano MC in bars 29-31 ¡forte ST at the crotchet pickup to
and Beethoven's String Quartet in F major, Op. 59 No. 1 {piano
MC elided with piano start to ST at bar 60).
46. In the context of symphonies, Koch ([1787] 1983, p. 199) describes a
'more singing phrase' which is heard after 'rushing and sonorous phrases',
surely a reference to an ST beginning after a transition; see also Galeazzi,
as cited in Churgin (1968), p. 193. Although Vogler writes of a second
'main theme' (. Hauptsatz ) in the first movements of symphonies, describing
it as 'gentle' {sanft) in contrast to a 'strong' {stark) first main theme, Stevens
(1983) has shown that this is merely textural contrast within the same
phrase, not a second theme in the modern sense. Ritzel (1968, pp. 167-70)
implies a similar point in this same reference to Vogler.
50. See Schmalfeldt (2011, p. 116) for an apt definition of her 'process of
becoming': '[T]oward the end of the eighteenth century and into the next,
new compositional approaches to certain, by then well-established conven-
tions of musical form seemed intent upon shifting our focus away from the
perception of forms as the product of successive, functionally discrete
sections within a whole. Instead, these new approaches encouraged the
51. Schachter (1990) espouses essentially the same view from a strictly
Schenkerian perspective but admits that ambiguity and multiple meanings
in tonal music 'certainly do exist'. As Agawu (1994, p. 103) convincingly
shows, however, 'Schachter's own argument amounts to a decisive vote
against the plausibility of musical ambiguity', thus demonstrating how the
two viewpoints actually converge.
52. Particularly telling in this respect is the fact that, of all the sonata-form
excerpts in her book, Schmalfeldt (201 1) analyses none of the initial STs of
a movement as participating in a process of becoming. Rather, she views
them all as STs from their very beginning. This even includes the locus
classicus of her notion of becoming, the first movement of Beethoven's
Tempest Sonata. Although Caplin (2009a, p. 103) counters Schmalfeldt in
this particular case, claiming that 'the end of the transition "becomes" the
beginning of the subordinate theme' in bars 42-63, Schmalfeldt defends
her point of view: 'the undisguised turbulence at the onset there [bar 41] of
the interlocking turn figure has never quite made it possible for me to
pretend for a moment that I am simply riding the quiet wave of a postca-
dential standing-on-the-dominant'. Furthermore, she points out that
'already by m. 45 the growing intensity and the gradual registrai ascent of
the agitato idea drawn from the initial allegro gesture suggest, both pian-
istically and psychologically, an anxious struggle toward a goal, rather than
the complacency of having already achieved one'; Schmalfeldt (2011), p.
52. Although Schmalfeldt draws attention to features other than the seven
signals proposed in this essay, the fact remains that she considers the ST
beginning to take place at bar 42, and therefore to be 'decidable' in
Agawu's sense despite the weakening of its harmonic support through the
dominant prolongation.
53. See Hepokoski and Darcy (2006), pp. 170-7, and (1997), pp. 145-50.
54. Hepokoski and Darcy (2006, p. 172) also state that some TMBs 'might be
regarded as a variant of the multimodular or trimodular S, one in which an
additional MC-effect and "second" S have been planted somewhere in the
middle'. Oddly enough, the authors appear to have changed their minds
from their earlier article on the MC (1997, p. 147 n. 38), where they
instead distinguish this type of multimodular or trimodular S from the
TMB. Nevertheless, it is clear that these types of S zones are closely related
to the TMB.
56. Consequently, the authors of such analyses hear the ST beginning with the
A major theme at bar 54. See, for instance, Marx ([1841-75] 1997), p.
144; Tovey (1931), p. 56; Dahlhaus ([1987] 1991), pp. 102-4, who
regards bars 23-53 as an 'episode' between the transition and the ST;
Longyear and Covington (1988), p. 465 n. 15; and Rosen (1988), pp.
246-8, who refrains from labelling an ST anywhere in this exposition,
preferring instead to focus on the tonal motion, which 'simply' moves
through the submediant to the dominant key. Surely, however, to down-
play the tonal strangeness of the situation to this degree is to circumvent
the whole idea behind the passage. One exception to these analyses is that
of Prout (1895, p. 151), who views the ST as beginning at bar 23.
57. Caplin (1998, p. 119) defines a 'modulating subordinate theme' as a theme
in which 'the goal subordinate key, that in which the theme closes with a
perfect authentic cadence, is the dominant region of the home key. The key
in which the theme begins can vary, but the submediant region in major-
mode movements and the mediant (relative major) in minor-mode ones are
usually favored'. Home (2006, p. Ill) notes that 'the oblique initiation of
a second group comprises any second-group beginning that tonicizes a
scale degree other than Î in the second key'. He then cites Op. 10 No. 3,
among others, as an example of the phenomenon.
58. See Hepokoski and Darcy (2006), p. 176. The authors readily admit that
this exposition 'could be read in more than one way'. See, for example, n.
6 on the same page, where they raise the possibility that the movement is
in dialogue with a type of continuous exposition in which cadential
modules are reiterated after a PAC that comes too early to constitute the
EEC (essential expositional closure, their term for the PAC which ends the
S zone).
59. Those who consider the ST to begin on the dominant of A at bar 5 1 (or 52)
include d'lndy (1902, vol. 2/ii, p. 228), Riemann (1902-13, vol. 1, p. 464),
Helm ([1921] 1971, p. 10), Marliave ([1928] 1961, pp. 18-19), Longyear
and Covington (1988, p. 461) by implication and Home (2006, p. 109).
Those siding with the C major of bar 68 include Hadow (1926, p. 34),
Mason (1947, p. 42), Lam (1975, vol. 1, p. 23), Konoid ([1980] 1983,
60. Some readers may feel that bars 51-57 express the function of either a
post-cadential standing-on-the-dominant or a continuation. I find the
former interpretation unsustainable because post-cadential functions do
not, as a rule, lead to cadences. The latter interpretation I find untenable
as well, because the passage does not contain any of the four features
which, according to Caplin (1998, p. 41), define a continuation: (1)
phrase-structural fragmentation, (2) acceleration in the harmonic rhythm,
(3) acceleration in the surface rhythm and (4) sequential harmonies.
Moreover, as I argue elsewhere (2011, pp. 200-2), continuations cannot
begin phrase structures because they are exclusively a form of acceleration
(i.e. they include only the first three features above) and must therefore be
preceded by an initial unit that sets the model against which the accelera-
tion is measured. Certainly, however, the prolonged dominant in this
passage weakens the sense of beginning, since it is a feature which usually
occurs in a standing-on-the-dominant.
61. The illusory status of this C major is also suggested by Beethoven's use of
register, in that the first violin and cello occupy more central registers here
than when the ST emerged at bar 5 1 . When the music returns to the true
ST key of A major at bar 76, these instruments regain their original
registers. (My thanks to Ryan McClelland for this insight.)
62. The issue of closing themes is one of the most contested in recent writings
on sonata form. For Hepokoski and Darcy (2006, pp. 120 and 180-1), the
secondary-theme zone (S) ends with the essential expositional closure
(EEC) - the first PAC that proceeds to differing material - and is followed
by the closing zone (C), which may contain codettas as well as full-fledged
themes. For Caplin (1998, p. 122), the subordinate theme group may
contain any number of themes ending with PACs and moves into a closing
section only upon reaching a codetta, which is generally defined by its short
length of one to four bars. Caplin (2009c, pp. 29-30) challenges other
notions of the 'closing theme' in sonata expositions, and elsewhere (2009b,
p. 59) he defends his idea of the 'closing section' against the criticism of
Hepokoski (2009), p. 43.
63. Those advocating bar 45 include Marx ([1841-75] 1997, p. 161),
Dahlhaus ([1987] 1991, pp. 174-5), Churgin (1992, pp. 32-4), Hepokoski
and Darcy (2006., p. 143) and Home (2006). Those in favour of bar 57
include Tovey (1935-9, vol. 1, P- 30), although he contradicts this view
elsewhere ([1944] 1956, p. 222, where he marks bar 65 as the start of the
'second group'); Caplin (1991, pp. 36-41); and Nottebohm ([1880] 1979,
p. 51), who notes that material in the sketches corresponding to bar 57 in
the final score constitutes 'the first part of the second group5. And those
settling on bar 83 include Kretschmar (1913, vol. 1, p. 202), Plantinga
(1984, p. 39), Sipe (1998, p. 97) and Taruskin (2005, vol. 2, pp. 659-60).
It is unclear where Webster (2001, p. 692) locates the ST beginning, since
he marks the 'second group proper' at bar 57, implying a previous intro-
duction to the ST (ostensibly the 'important theme' he hears at bar 45).
Finally, although the question of an ST was irrelevant to Schenker, he does
identify 'the so-called second subject' ([1930] 1997, p. 17) at bar 83.
64. Hepokoski and Darcy (2006, p. 143) locate an MC at bar 45 but do not
discuss the oddity of the absence of a textural gap before the ST beginning.
65. For this definition of a dominant arrival, see Caplin (1998), p. 79.
66. This situation appears to be a subset of Hepokoski and Darcy's 'self-
evident S', which sounds without a preceding MC, though these authors
are not explicit as to the sorts of signals which are or are not present.
67. See Hepokoski and Darcy (2006), p. 49; and Caplin (2011).
68. Other examples of integrated STs include Haydn, Symphony No. 98, bar
59; and Beethoven, Piano Sonata in Ci minor, Op. 27 No. 2/iii, bar 21, and
Piano Trio in D major ( Ghost ), Op. 70 No. 1, bar 43.
69. See Hepokoski (2009), pp. 43-5; and Webster (2009), p. 50.
70. Although a V chord immediately precedes bar 42, it cannot be considered
a phrase-ending one, for the phrase actually comes to an end with the
elided I6 on the following downbeat.
71. Caplin (2009c, p. 35), rather regards bars 54 ff. as cadential in function;
but, as Webster points out (2009, p. 66 n. 8), Caplin 'states incorrectly that
mm. 51-52 and 53-54 are not genuinely cadential, because the dominants
are in inversion. Perhaps he was misled by his piano reduction ... in which
the lowest notes represent the cellos; in the score and to the ear, however,
these dominants are unambiguously long notes in root position, sounded
by double-basses and second bassoon and doubled by the violas'. I would
therefore agree with Webster that cadential function occurs with bars
51-52 and 53-54.
72. Beethoven's last three piano sonatas provide other good examples
spontaneous ST: Op. 109, bar 9; Op. 110, bar 20; and Op. Ill, bar 50.
73. Recall from n. 29 that a premature dominant arrival whose V chord is
prolonged renders signal 3 (a phrase-ending chord in the transition) strong,
REFERENCES
Hepokoski, James, and Darcy, Warren, 1997: 'The Medial Caesura and its
in the Eighteenth-Century Sonata Exposition', Music Theory Spectrum , 1
pp. 115-54.
Books).
Press).
NOTE ON CONTRIBUTOR
ABSTRACT