Reprise Structures in Haydn’s Op. 50 Minuets

Abstract

Reprise Structures in Haydn’s Op. 50 Minuets Samantha M. Inman (bio) Over-enthusiasm for the epic too easily directs admiration away from the skills needed to create a miniature masterpiece.1 A minuet, with respect to execution, is no different from a concerto, an aria, or a symphony,” Joseph Riepel asserts.2 Indeed, the first two chapters of his Anfangsgründe zur musicalischen Setzkunst demonstrate how aspects of phrase structure and motivic development apply to genres ranging from the humble to the prestigious. This approach to composition pedagogy highlights the need for basic skills that can be honed in small-scale works and applied to large-scale works. Conversely, creative manipulations typically associated with large forms may be used to enliven small forms. This principle is evident in the minuets by Joseph Haydn. Early biographer G. A. Griesinger hints at the value the composer placed on the minuet in the following anecdote: “Someone told Haydn that Albrechtsberger wished to see all fourths banished from the purest style. ‘What does that mean?’ replied Haydn…. ‘Such affectations [End Page 23] are worthless. I would rather someone tried to compose a really new minuet.’”3 Haydn’s own minuets encompass sophisticated compositional techniques, attesting to his own search for new ways of writing in familiar genres. Past studies of Haydn’s minuets in string quartets or symphonies have employed analytic tools such as hypermeter and topic theory.4 However, even fundamental aspects of tonality and form in these dances can reward close examination. This case study considers Haydn’s Op. 50 string quartets for four reasons. First, extant literature acknowledges the complexity of Haydn’s quartet movements in general and the quartet minuet movements in particular.5 Second, focusing on a single opus highlights the variety in pieces composed within a short time span. Written for Friedrich [End Page 24] Wilhelm II from Prussia, all six of these quartets were completed and published in 1787.6 Third, outside of W. Dean Sutcliffe’s excellent monograph on the set, Op. 50 has received less scholarly attention than Haydn’s other groups of string quartets, especially Opp. 20, 33, and 76.7 Fourth, and most importantly, the minuets of Op. 50 provide a particularly fertile field for studying reprise structures. As Sutcliffe notes, “the third movements of Op. 50 … are concerned with matters of dominant preparation and structural return, almost to the point of being a fetish.”8 The present article views the minuet and trio movements from Haydn’s Op. 50 string quartets through the lenses of form and Schenkerian voice leading.9 After a brief overview of the set, analyses of the individual dances are presented in three groups in order of increasing complexity. Just as Haydn’s sonata movements range from textbook to deformational, the minuets in Op. 50 range from conventional to peculiar.10 In fact, the manner in which the minuets depart from expectations reflects features well-documented in his movements in sonata form, including unusual starts to reprises, rewritten recapitulations, and cross-references with material from the digression.11 [End Page 25] Minuets and Trios in Haydn’s Op. 50: An Overview All six minuet and trio movements in Haydn’s Op. 50 follow the conventional compound ternary form encompassing two binary forms. Furthermore, each nested binary form is at least arguably rounded, featuring a reprise.12 The harmonic ending to the first part of a binary form determines the extent to which modifications must be made in a reprise. As Table 1 shows, Op. 50 contains representatives of two different types: sectional and continuous. Sectional forms, which close their first section with an authentic cadence in the tonic key, require no alteration; repetition of the entire passage at the end of the second section yields satisfactory closure. In contrast, continuous forms require modification in order to reach tonal closure, altering a half cadence to an authentic cadence or rewriting a modulating first section to conclude in tonic. Despite the different tendencies of sectional and continuous forms, Haydn’s Op. 50 contains instances of minimal and radical alterations in both categories, as Table 1 indicates.13 While five out of the [End Page 26] Click for larger view...