The morphology of texture and style in the minuet movements of Haydn's keyboard trios.
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Date
1991
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Abstract
Haydn wrote approximately forty-five keyboard Trios between
1760 and 1796. About fifteen of them date from his youth
and the rest from the later part of his creative life.
This study traces the changes in the Minuet-type movements
in these Trios, commencing with the early Minuet and trio
da capo works in which the Minuet and trio each conform to
a binary structure; continuing with the sophisticated
composite tri-partite structures of the Tempo di Menuetto
movements of the middle-period works; and ending with the
late period and the eventual demise of movements with
Minuet indications in their titles.
As background to the above, the study traces the Minuet
from its origins in the dance through to its place in the
newly emerging Sonata plan. An investigation into the
beginnings of the keyboard Trio assesses the position of
the Minuet movement within the Trio genre. Background
material also draws on Haydn's socio-musical environment,
and the relation of his social and psychological
circumstances to his composition of keyboard Trios and,
more specifically, to the Minuet-type movement within the
Trio.
The study raises a number of questions during the course
of the investigation, the most important of which relate to
the morphological changes in Minuet-type movements and to
their gradually declining presence in the Trios.
In conclusion, the findings show that although the Minuet
movement is generally considered to be the least complex of
the movements of the Sonata plan, these movements reflect
many aspects of the newly born Sonata form. Additionally,
a number of style-characteristics occur with such
regularity that they may well be regarded as reliable
indications of Haydn's "Minuet style".
Description
Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1991.
Keywords
Haydn, Joseph 1732-1809., Theses--Music.