The Opening Section of Mozart's Fantasy

8/12/2019 The Opening Section of Mozart's Fantasy

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MOZART: FANTASY, K. 475 23

Coherence vs. Disunity:The Opening Section of Mozart s Fantasy,K 475

RAPHAEL ATLAS

The C minor Fantasy fo r piano (K. 475) , w r i t t e n in 1785,i s t he o n l y comple t ed work title ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y by Mozar thimse l f . l C r i t i c a l di scuss ion of the piece mi r ro r s itss ingu la r i t y in his oeuvre: Fel ix Sa lzer , for example, c a l l sit one of the bo ldes t musica l comcept ions in the e n t i r el i t e r a tu r e . 2 For A l f red Ei n s t e i n , the Fantasy a t t e s t sMozar t ' s a b i l i t y to indu lge in t h e g r e a t e s t p o s s i b l efreedom and boldness of imagina t ion , the most extremecon t ras t of ideas, the most uninhibi ted v a r i e t y of l y r i c and

IThere are two other works so t i t l ed , both fragments: K383C (Anh. 32) in F minor , fo r keyboard , and K 616a (Anh.92) in C major, for glass harmonica, f l u t e , oboe, vio la andce l lo . The title of the popula r D minor Fantasy for piano,K 385g (397), may not be Mozart 's a t a l l ; and the so-ca l ledfantasy which i n t r oduces the C major fugue fo r piano , K383a (394), was c a l l e d Prelude by Mozart. For fu r ther i n f o r mation, the reader i s d i r e c t e d to the e n t r i e s in Koechel ' sca ta log , Chronologisch- themat isches Verzeichnes saemt l icherTonwerke Wol fgang Amade Mozarts ( s ix th ed i t ion , Wiesbaden:Brei tkopf und Harte l , 1964).

2Structura l Hearing: Tonal Coherence in Music New York:Boni, 1952), volume I , 251.


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24 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

virtuoso elements, while yet preserving s t ruc tu ra l 10gic."3Like E i n s t e i n , many w r i t e r s ma rve l t h a t the music ,charac te r i zed by sharp c o n t r a s t s , main ta ins a fundamenta lcoherence a t the same t ime. The c r i t i c a l consensus on thep i e c e can be fairly r e p r e s e n t e d by Hans D e n n e r l e i n ' ss ta tement t h a t i t fuses m u l t i p l e impulses and formalelements in to one la rge work nour ished by the grea tes t depthof fee l ing . 4

The hype rbo l i c language in these remarks i s t yp i ca l ofthe l i t e r a t u r e on the Fantasy; it i s e spe c i a l l y notable ind i s c u s s i o n s o f the o p e n i n g s e c t i o n . S a i n t - F o i x , fo rin s tance , speaks of astonishing, prodigious modulat ions";Abert responds to a rever ie of wonderful profundi ty , whichg l i d e s of f in chromat ic pass ing motion with ex t r ao rd ina ryboldness through the most d i s t a n t keys, and which emphasizesthe p r i n c i p a l s t a t i o n s of the wandering by means of a w i lds fo rz a to . 5 The e n t i r e s e c t i o n , according to Hans David ,d i s p l a y s an e x t r a o r d i n a r y irregularity o f b a s s - l i n eprogre s s ion , but each d e f l e c t i o n i s so f u l l y suppor ted bycorresponding changes in other elements tha t the r e s u l t i san i m p r e s s i o n no t o f w i l f u l n e s s bu t o f m y s t e r i o u sprofund i ty . ,,6Extraordinary i r r e g u l a r i t y of the bass l ine , astonishingmodulat ions through the most d i s t a n t keys- - these are hard lycommon c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f Mozar t ' s harmonic prac t i ce . Infac t , one g e n e ra l l y a s s o c i a t e s t h i s kind of a c t i v i t y not

3Mozart : His Charac te r , His Work ( t r a ns l a t e d by ArthurMende 1 and Nathan Broder, London: Oxford Uni vers i ty Press ,1945), 246-247.

4Der unbekannte Mozart : Die Welt se ine Klavie rwerke(second ed i t ion , Leipzig: B r e i t k o p T ~ n d Har te l , 1955), 209."Es bedurf te e ines Mozart, urn die mannigfa l t igen Anregungenund Formelemente zu einem aus groe ss t e n Gefueh l s t i e f engesp ies ten Grosswerk zu verschmelzen." My t rans la t ion . )5Georges de Sa in t -Fo ix , Wolfgang A m ~ d / e Mozart : Sa ~ i emusica le e t son oeuvre (Par i s : Desc lee , Brouwer e t Cie . ,1939 ) , v 0 1 ume I V, To 1. eq u i mar que d ' un e fa


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MOZART: FANTASY, K. 475 25

with mus ica l order and intelligibility bu t r a t h e r withconfus ion and ambigui ty . What i s it then, t h a t pre se rve sthe musical sense from dis in tegra t ion as the piece unfolds?How i s it t ha t the unusual musical discourse does not becomenonsense, ul t imate ly los ing the l i s t ene r?These quest ions wil l serve as the point of depar ture formy study. I s h a l l under take to show how the sec t ion coheresas a un ivoca l whole , to d i sc e rn i t s own microscosmic

s t ruc tura l logic. This demonstra t ion w i l l serve in turn asa basis for exploring prec ise ly how the music r e s i s t s such aunivocal and in tegra l concept ion.The opening sec t ion of the Fantasy , measures 1-25, i sreproduced in Example 1. My ana lys i s of th i s music i s guidedby the f a c t t h a t one kind o f fantasy , the f ree fantasy , wasunders tood in Mozart 's t ime as the improvisa tory e labora t iono f a bass l i ne . 7 While the opening sec t ion o f K. 475 i smeasured , u n l i k e a f r e e f a n t a s y , it i s n o n e t h e l e s simprovisatory in charac ter . Accordingly, I have representedthe harmonic progression in measures 1-25 as a f igured bassl i n e in Example 2a. This l i ne moves e x c l u s i v e l y by h a l fstep, with no submetr ica l changes, un t i l measure 18. Here itmoves within the measure by per fec t fou r th , a l t e r n a t i n gbetween G and O. Because G occurs on a s t ronger p a r t o f themeasure than 0 , t h i s a l t e r n a t i o n c o n s t i t u t e s a kind ofaux i 1 i a r y ge s tu re ex tend ing G th rough measure 21. Inmeasures 22-25, F i i s s i m i l a r l y extended: it a l t e r n a t e ssubmetr ica l ly with B, and once with Ei, always occur ing on as t ronger pa r t of the measure . Example 2b, a metr ica lr e duc t ion of Example 2a, omi ts subme t r i c a l a u x i l l i a r ygestures of th i s so r t : the f igures are rea l ized as wel l , ona s ingle s t a f f for the sake of convenience. Example 2b showst h a t the m e t r i c a l bass l i n e proceeds e x c l u s i v e l y by h a l fs tep .

7C. P. E. Bach's d i sc uss ion of t he f ree fantasy in t h i sr ega rd i s no ta b l e . The Versuch ueber d ie wahre Art des

~ l . ~ y i e r s p i e l ~ (Le ipz ig: C. F. K a h n ~ 9 2 5 : 120;' l');f i r s t published a t Berl in in 1753, con ta ins a chapter on thef r e e fa n t a sy , according to which such a p iece c o n s i s t s o fvarious harmonic progress ions which can be expressed in a l lmanner of f igura t ion and motives . To conclude the chapter ,Bach shows how a f r e e f a n t a sy may be e vo l ved from a bass . Heprovides both the bass and the e n t i r e fantasy, invi t ing thereader to compare the piece with the framework from which ittook shape. ( In Will iam M i t c he l l ' s t r a ns l a t i on of Bach'swork, Essay the True Art o f Playing Keyboard Inst ruments[New York: Norton, 1949], the r e l e v a n t passage occurs onpage 430, and the r e l e v a n t musica l f igu res are 479 and 480on pages 442-445.)


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Example I con t inued .


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28 I N D I ~ XdCOay REVIEW

To unders tand th i s ent i re progression as a whole, now itw i l l be h e l p f u l to di sce r n some kind o f h i e r a r c h i c a ls t r u c t u r e a s t r u c t u r e c o n t r o l l e d so to speak by c e r t a i ns a l i e n t harmonies in the progression. Three aspects of themusic- - the contour o f the bass l i n e the dur a t ion o f itsmembers, and changes in texture--seem p a r t i c u l a r l y impor tantas d e t e r m i n i n g t he s t r u c t u r a l sh ap e of t he p a s s a g e .Accord ing ly othe r s igns have been added to Example 2b toh i g h l i g h t t h e s e aspec t s of the music. The winged br acke t si n d i c a t e t h a t a member o f the bass l i n e i s s u s t a i n e d fo rmore t h an one measure ; t he a r ro w s s i g n i f y changes o fd i rec t ion in the 1 ine . Dotted b a r l ines ind ica te changes int ex tu re .I t i s r ead i ly apparent tha t a l l bracke t s are accompaniedby ar rows. T h a t i s t h e b a s s l i n e ch an g es d i r e c t i o nimmedia te ly a f t e r one of i t s members i s ex tended . Oneo b s e rv es a l so t h a t each arrow a lways co inc ides with o rimmediate ly fol lows a dotted bar l ine . That i s each changein d i r e c t i o n i s accompanied by a change in t e x t u r e : thebreak ing o f a p a t t e r n occurs e i t h e r a t encounter o f t h e s epivo ta l members of the bass l i ne or dur ing the i r t enure . 8Example 2b shows, then t h a t f i v e members of the bassl i n e are brought in to r e l i e f by t h e j o i n t ac t ion of l i n e a rcontour , extended durat ion and changes in musical t ex tu re .b o f measures 5-7 suppor t s a Db t r i a d ex tended by aneighbor ing seventh chord in measure 6, B of measure 10 andF i o f measures 16-17 both suppor t B t r i a d s ; G s u p p o r t s a Gt r i a d in measures 18-20 to which an augmented s i x t h i s

added in measure 21; and Fi suppor t s an Fi t r i ad in measures22-25.9 The harmonic progression suppor ted by these membersof the bass l ine i s spel led out on Example 2c.The annota t ions on Example 2c ind ica te a poss ib le readingof th i s l a rge-sca le progress ion . The opening C minor harmonyi s the tonic. The s ix - four which fo l lows i s understood as afunct ional harmony, a secondary dominant point ing to the Fiharmony a t the end of the pr ogr e ss ion . This Fi f i v e - t h r e eharmony, V l /q V I I i s its lf delayed by a s i x - f o u r on F idur ing measures 10-17. The G harmony of measures 18-21 i s aneighbor which de lays the p ro g res s of the s i x - f o u r to thef ive- three . Note tha t the bass of the s ix - four mater ia l i zesunder tha t harmony only a t measure 16, 6 measures a f t e r theother members of the harmony f i r s t sound. lO

8The reader w i l l r eca l l David ' s observat ion c i t ed in thesecond paragraph tha t each def lec t ion [of the bass 1 ine i s suppor ted by corresponding changes in other elements.9 am t r ea t ing the s ix -chord in measure 15 as a passingharmony, the reasons for which wil l soon become c lear .10The bass of the s i x - f o u r in f ac t m a t e r i a l i z e s in


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Unconvent ional as the pr ogr e ss ion in Example 2c i s ( tosay noth ing o f the way it i s a c t u a l l y composed out ) , itproceeds in a sy n t a c t i c and con t inuous manner, as thea n n o ta t i o n s show, and it has an unambiguous harmonicprof i l e . Furthermore, as the ana ly t i c method asse r t s , therei s an e s s e n t i a l connect ion between t h i s read ing and theprogress ion a c t u a l l y heard. In other words, Example 2c showshow the opening s e c t i o n of the Fan tasy makes unequivoca lharmonic sense , conveying perhaps one aspect in microcosm ofthe "s t ruc tura l log ic" E ins te in apprec ia ted .

Two q u a l i f i c a t i o n s , however , must be noted here . F i r s t ,the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s among the f i r s t four harmonies inExample 2c are not cons t e l l a t ed un t i l the Fi harmony appearsin measure 22. The r o l e of the B f i v e - t h r e e harmony as afore token, so to speak , o f a s ix - four : the r o l e of the Gharmony as a neighbor chord, not the dominant of r e f e r e n t i a lC minor-- these are c r y s t a l l i z e d , as the progress ion unfoldsin mus ica l t ime, only a t measures 22ff . by the Fi harmony.According to t h i s idea , the l a r g e - s c a l e harmonic sense ofthe passage i s obscure dur ing measures 10-21. During thesemeasures , one i s left to one ' s own con jec tu res and one ' sf a i th tha t the l a rge harmonic sense w i l l ul t ima te ly becomec lea r .Second, the o b s c u r i t y of the l a r g e harmonic sense inthese measures i s compounded by an enharmonic c o n f l i c t , onewhich i s a c t u a l l y r e f l e c t e d by the s p e l l i n g of Example 2citself The second harmony in the example , as an a p p l i e ddominant with a Db root , r i g h t f u l l y poin ts to a harmony witha Gb roo t : but the read lng--which cor responds to Mozar t ' sspe l l i ng- - has Fi. This kind of enharmonic inconsis tency i sa lso apparent in Example 2b, l ikewise f a i th fu l to Mozart 'sspe l l ing . In th i s example, the same Db harmony i s extendedin measures 5-7 ove r b in the bass . In the f o l lowing twomeasures, the bass ascends by h a l f s tep , support ing passingharmonies to which Eb and Gb belong. Retained as chord tonesin measure 10 they h e l p i d e n t i f y t h a t harmony as hav ing aCb roo t 0 nth e 0 t h e r han d M z a r t wr o t e i t t h eenharmonic equ iva len t with root Bq In the r e fe ren t ia l key Cminor , q i s the l e ad ing tone , whereas Cb i s f o r e ign .Cons idered wi th r e f e r ence to the background key C minor ,then , i r r e s p e c t i v e of i t s immediate con tex t , the harmonicroot a t measure 10 i s more simply and e a s i l y in te rpre ted asq than as Cb.These c o n f l i c t s come about from two d i f f e r e n t kinds of"hear ing ." According to the f i r s t kind , which I w i l l c l l

success iv e hea r ing , success ive harmonies are d i a t o n i c a l l yr e l a t e d : the l i s t e n e r i n t e r p r e t s harmonies in s e r i e s ,

measure 15, but there it supports a minor s ix- three chord.


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MOZART FANTASY K. 475 31r e l a t i n g them d i a t o n i c a l l y to t he o n es immedia t e lypreced ing . Thus, success ive hear ing tells us t h a t theharmony in measure 10 has roo t Cb. In con t ras t , according tothe second kind of hear ing , which I wi 11 ca 11 backgroundhear ing, the l i s t e n e r r e l a t e s a given harmony func t iona l lyto a r e f e r en t i a l key, independent ly of the progression whichin t roduces t h a t harmony. According to background h ea r i n g ,the l i s t e n e r a s s o c i a t e s t empor a l ly d i s t a n t harmonies ,aga ins t the background of a r e f e r e n t i a l key. Backgroundhear ing thus tells us t h a t the harmony in measure 10 hasr o o t B. For t h e p r e s e n t , I shall be co n ce rn ed w i t hsuccess ive hear ing i I s h a l l r e t u r n to co n s i d e r backgroundhear ing l a t e r on. llLet us now fo l l o w the music as it u n fo l d s from measure10. As Example 2b shows, the f i v e - t h r e e harmony a t t h a tmeasure and t h e s i x - f o u r o f meas u r es 1 6 - 1 7 - - b o t hcont r ibu tor s to a s ing le harmony in Example 2c- -are l inkedby a chromat ic descen t in the bass . Example 3a g i ves areading of measures 10-16, beginning with a B harmony, basedon success ive hear ing . t i s c a l l e d Reading i ) i harmonicfunc t ion i s d es i g n a t ed be low the s t a f f . The harmony inmeasure 12 , c a l l e d a l p h a in the example , i s a dominantseven th on A.12 As such, it p o i n t s to D-root chor d tb I I I /B ,in measure 13. Here, however , fo l l o w s a s u r p r i s e : the Fminor six-chord beta , which cannot be harmonical ly r e l a t edto the preceeding A-root chord in a di rec t coherent way. Thetwo harmonies, however, can be r e l a t ed ind i r ec t ly : tha t i s ,measures 12-13 i n v o l v e an e l i s i o n , which produces thediscont inuous ef fec t of th i s harmonic succession. Accordingto t h i s read ing , t h r ee harmonies are e l i d e d : D major , Dminor, and F major.

The F minor s ix -chord proceeds to the G dominant seventhin measure 14, c a l l e d gamma in the example. Together, thesetwo harmonies suggest a C minor key sense, in which they areIV 6 and V7 r e s p e c t i v e l Y i they po in t to a C minor harmony inmeasure 15. With the s u b s t i t u t i o n of the Eb minor s ix -chordde l t a for the appointed C chord a t tha t measure, however, ade scending sequence emerges: the progress ion gamma-de 1 ta 0 f

I l Fo r a more t horough d i scuss ion o f success ive h ea r in gand background h ea r i n g , see R. At la s , The Diachron icRecogni t ion of Enharmonic E q u iv a l en ce (Ph.D. d i ss . , YaleUniversi ty , 1983), 55-65, 86-95.12The use o f a co n v en t i o n a l l e t t e r name, such a At r a d i t i o n a l l y imputes a p a r t i c u l a r degree func t ion to ap i tch . This imp u ta t i o n w i l l of t en be undes i r ab l e in t hefol lowing discourse . I have therefore named the harmonies inmeasures 12-15 a f t e r Greek l e t t e r s , and use Roman l e t t e r swhen I wish to specify degree funct ion.


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Example 3.Four i nd iv idua l readings of measures 10-16.

A 10 11 12 13 14 15

J M I ' 1 ~ T ~ ~ n i ~ ] ~ead111 1) B, I ~ { l I I . l IT v.? ~< ,V '1 (,])::2 - . ~ - t." J


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in measure 15 to Ai and Di, r espect ive ly .13Fol lowing the Di minor s i x -ch o rd d e l t a on Reading ( i i l ,the s ix - four in measure 16 i s a B t r iad . But t h i s harmony is

enharmonica l ly v a r i a n t from the homonymous Cb chord inmeasure 10 o f t h i s read ing Fur thermore , Reading ( i i l andReading ( i l in Example 3a u n f o l d in o p p o s i t e t o n a ldi rec t ions Whereas the progression of Reading ( i l moves inthe f 1 a t d i r e c t ion, t hat i s f ro m to Cb the pro g r e s s iono f Reading ( i i l moves in the sharp d i r e c t i o n , t h a t i s fromb toReadings ( i l and ( i i l are based on i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f

a lpha as an a p p l i e d dominant seven th or an augmented s i x f ive harmony, r e s p ec t i v e l y , in te rpre ta t ions tha t are se t upby the preceed ing music . This i s not the case wi th Readingiii) in Example 3c, which i s b as ed on a s e r i e s o f

descending s i x t h s . This r ead ing i s unique in t h a t allharmonies are consecu t ive ly r e l a t ed- - the r e are no e l i s ions .Here, alpha and gamma funct ion as a l t e r ed appl ied dominantsto beta and de l ta , respec t ive ly . In the lower s taves of theexample, the a l t e ra t ion of the appl ied dominants i s shown.Fur thermore , in t h i s r ead i n g , both t h e s e harmonies arere in te rp re ted over the course of musical t ime.

For the l i s t ener , Reading ( i i i ) f i r s t comes in to i t s ownwi th the appearance of the F minor six-chord a t measure 13.In order to i n t e g r a t e t h i s j a r r ing even t in to the mus ica l

l30 n page 361 o f t h e i r Harmonielehre ( S t u t t g a r t : C.Gruniger , 1924) , Rudol f Louis and Ludwig Th u i l l e g i v e ani n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h i s passage which combines f e a t u r e s o fReadings ( i ) and ( i i ) . They iden t i fy the progression a lp h a beta-gamma-del ta as V/D-IV/C-V/C-IV/Bb minor, ~ in Reading( i ) . On the othe r hand, they poin t out t h a t gamma behavesa l so l i k e an augmented s i x - f i v e , proceed ing to I I I / B . Inc o n t r a s t to my read ing in Example 2c, i n c id e n t a l l y , Louisand T h u i l l e imagine t h a t measures 11-16 ex tend an Fiharmony; in t he i r terminology, an imaginary pedal -po in t" Fii s sustained in the bass through these measures.

A l s o interesting in this c o n n e c t i o n is t h eg e n e r a l i z a t i o n , made by Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda, t h a t"Mozar t 's harmonic b o l d n es s l i e s most ly in the s u r p r i s i n gjux tapos i t ion of chords which are only ind i rec t ly re la ted ."They p o i n t out i n t h e s e measures t h a t "Mozar t uses asuccess ion o f or d ina r y dominant s ev en t h s and minor [ s i x chords] over a chromat ica l ly descending bass, and achievesan a b s o l u t e l y b r e a t h t a k i n g e f f e c t without making a s i n g l echromat ic a l t e r a t i o n " - - t h a t i s , a l t e r a t i o n o f a dominantseventh or minor six-chord. See In te rp re t ing Mozart theKeyboard ( t r a n s l a t e d by Leo Black , London: Bar r i e andRockl i f f , 1962), 230.


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MOZART: FANTASY K. 475 35f low, one r e e v a l u a t e s t he initial a s s e s s m e n t o f t heimmedia te ly p r eceed in g chord a lpha as e i t h e r a dominantseven th or augmented s i x - f i v e , r e t r o a c t i v e l y i d e n t i f y i n ga lp h a as a l t e r e d V2/F on t he second s t a f f of Example 3c.Likewise gamma f i r s t encountered as a dominant seventh onG i s re in te rp re ted as a l t e r ed V2/Eb when the Eb minor s i x chord appear s a t measure 15 and the p a r a l l e l i s m betweena lpha - be ta and gamma-del ta emerges . Gamma i s shown asa l t e r e d V2/Eb on t he t h i r d s t a f f of Example 3c. Unl ikeReadings i ) and i i ) , Reading i i i ) f i n d s no enharmonicdiscrepancy between the t r i ads in measures 10 and 16.

The th ree readings of measures 10-16 discussed so far areall b as ed on s u c c e s s i v e h e a r i n g : h a rmo n i e s i n t heprogression are in te rp re ted se r i a l l y , r e l a t ed d i a ton ica l lyto the ones immedia te ly preceding. The readings address thel i n e a r l o g i c of t he pr ogr e ss ion , i n d ep en d en t l y of ther e f e r e n t i a l key C minor . I have s p e l l e d the harmony inmeasure 10 as a B chord on Reading i ) and as a Cb chord onReadings i i ) and i i i ) , and I have i den t i f i ed the fol lowingharmonies accor d ing ly , to show t h i s l o g i c in the s i m p l e s tway. The point of my spe l l i ng here i s not tha t a pa r t i cu l a rharmonic ro o t sh o u ld have a p a r t i c u l a r degree name in Cminor in a g iv en read ing , but r a t h e r t h a t t h i s harmonicr o o t , however it might be s p e l l e d , sh o u ld r e l a t e to theothe r roots in a way cha r ac t e r i s t i c of the reading. Readingsi ) , i i ) and iii) d e l i b e r a t e l y ignore the a c t i v i t y o fbackground hear ing, the tendency to r e l a t e harmonies to ther e fe ren t ia l key C minor, in the s imples t , most dia ton ic way.Given a choice between as s i g n i n g a harmony a ro o t whichbelongs to C minor, or i t s enharmonic equ iva len t fore ign tothe key, background hear ing prefers the dia ton ic op t ion .A r ead in g of the passage based on background hear ing ,Reading iv ) , i s shown in Example 3d. Here the harmonicr oo t s a re i d e n t i f i e d as d i a t o n i c ; the l i n e a r connect ionbetween success ive harmonies i s v i r t u a l l y ignored. A B har mony in measure 10 proceeds to an Fi s ix - f ive harmony, whichi s f o l l o w ed in t u rn by a dominant s ev en t h on A. An F minors ix -chord in measure 13 proceeds to a dominant seventh on G.The s ix - chor d in measure 15 has an Eb r oo t ; the s i x - f o u r inthe fol lowing measure i s a B t r iad . Al l harmonic roo ts , withthe ex cep t i o n of the second, be long to e i t h e r C minor o r Cmajo r . The seco n d harmonic r o o t i s f o r e i g n to t he Cminor /ma jor system, however it might be i n t e r p r e t e d . Thel i s t e n e r is led to give it an Fi root because the precedingharmony, to which it i s the dominant , has r oo t l e ad i n gtone in C minor , Reading i v ) thoroughly cor responds toMozart s spe l l i ng .I have thus demons t ra ted four p o s s i b l e r ead i n g s ofmeasures 10-16. Each r ead in g a s s e r t s something d i f f e r e n tabout the harmonic progression in those measures. Readings


14/15


15/15

MOZART: FANTASY K. 47S 37

alpha comes to be re in te rp re ted as a l t e red V2 / F Ambiguityis thus found with in Readings ( i i ) and ( i i i ) themselves.The univoca l i ty of Example 2c discussed above ac t s as afoi l to the equ ivoca l i ty o f Example 3.14 Whereas Example 2cbecomes univoca l in measures 22f f . , however , the conf l i c tbe tween Read i n g s ( i ) , (ii), (iii) and ( i v ) i s n e v e rresolved. There i s nothing l a t e r in the piece which negatesthe log ic of an y o n e reading . Their c o l l e c t i v e v a l i d i t y inthe memory remains unchal lenged: equ ivoca l i ty p r e v a i l s inExample 3, even when a l l i s musical ly sa id and done.In the l i g h t o f t h i s a n a l y s i s , the o f t - n o t e d absence o f akey s ignature a t the beginning of the Fantasy can be read asa posi t ive asser t ion about the music, assuming s ign i f i cancewel l beyond i t s funct ion as a convent iona l s ign. As Example2c shows, the passage can be unders tood as the openingc lause of an u l t i m a t e l y t o n a l u t t e r a n c e in the key o f Cminor. As we f ind in Example 3, however, th i s musical clausefash ions from the p a r t s o f tona l speech a hyper tona ldi scour se , as it were. Incompat ib le as t h e s e d i f f e r e n treadings are, they a l l coex is t : in the i r own proper senses ,t h e y a r e all t r u e . The n e t w o r k o f intractablec o n t r a d i c t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e s to the power of t h i s music,i t s e l f the opening passage of a work in which, despi te theoccas iona l moments o f c l a r i t y i l l u m i n a t i n g the sombert a b l e a u , as Sa in t - Fo ix w r i t e s , one can say t h a t no t r ueaccord i s ever reached: an i r r econc i l ab le enemy remains asi f hidden, and the sky never achieves l a s t i ng sereni ty . lS

14In its t ens ion between uni voca 1 i ty and equi voca 1 i ty ,t h i s music manifes ts the r e la t ion between the dia ton ic andchromat ic systems d es c r i b ed by W i l l i am M i t c h e l l in TheStudy of Chromaticism (Journal of Music Theory 6/1 [Apri l1962J: 9). M i t c h e l l o b s e rv es t h a t the d i a t o n i c sc a l e ,e s p e c i a l l y as r epr e sen ted by the major mode, s t an d s as as t ro n g or de r ing fo rce , while.. the chromat ic s c a l es t an d s as a marked d i f f u s i n g fo rce . Chromat ic ism, or theunion o f the two fo rces r ep resen ts a cons t an t p l ay of thec e n t r i p e t a l powers of dia ton ic i sm a g a i n s t the c e n t r i f u g a lcharac ter of the chromatic sca le .

ISMozart , 101. Malgr ' l e s claircies qui i l l u m i n e n tparfo i s Ie sombre t ab leau , on peut di re qu'aucune d ' t en t e nes 'y p r o d u i t : un ennemi i r r ' c o n c i l i a b l e y demeure commecache, e t j amai s Ie c i e l ne p a r v i e n t se r a s s e r e n e rdurablement . My t r ans l a t ion . )

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The Opening Section of Mozart's Fantasy

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