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Den Haag, February 28th, 2014

Playing with a Galant Cliché: The 'Marpurg Cadence' in Schubert's D. 537, iii

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In this paper I want to focus on a characteristic cadential schema in the third movement of

Schubert's piano sonata D. 537. Before we can go to the piece itself, we first have to take a

look at the cadential prototype that forms the point of reference for Schubert's ingenious play.

The cadential schema at hand is for the first time explicitly described by Wilhelm Friedrich

Marpurg in the second volume of his Kritische Briefe from 1763. When he discusses the

perfect cadence in general, Marpurg mentions two conventional melodic options for the top

voice. I quote: "…with respect to its last two notes, [the perfect cadence] involves (…) the

discant going from the second below or above the tonic to the tonic itself, …" The resulting

voice leading patterns in the top voice thus are 7-1 and 2-1. In a next letter Marpurg refers to

this last option when he describes a peculiar cadential schema, which he considers to be

typical for the galant style. I quote: "In the last thirty-some years, the galant style has

invented a peculiar kind of perfect cadence, which, it's true, agrees with the two previous

cadences with respect to the last two notes in the upper voice, so: 2-1, but it differs from them

in this: that in the six-four chord that prepares the cadence, the fourth on the antipenult in the

upper voice must precede…"

Marpurg then shows both a 5-voice and a 4-voice rather abstract model. [PPT]

The distinctive features of this cadential schema are twofold. First, the cadential six-four

chord with the fourth, which is scale degree one, in the top voice. This first scale degree does

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not resolve as expected, that is, descending one tone lower, but instead moves up to the

second scale degree. As Marpurg points out in several of his other writings, and in contrast to

the views of his contemporaries, he considers this practice as a valuable resolution of the

dissonant fourth in a cadential six-four chord. A second feature of Marpurg's cadential model

is the concluding 2-1 melodic movement. [PPT]

As a result, the overall voice leading pattern in the upper part is 1-2-1. For the sake of

simplicity, I will refer to this cadence as 'Marpurg's galant cadence' or even shorter 'the

Marpurg cadence'.

Except the textural realization, the most important difference between Marpurg's abstract

models and concrete examples from the repertoire, concerns the ornamentation. From a

historical point of view, this is not surprising at all. Already in the very beginning of its

originating history in the repertoire, ornamentation was an essential feature within this

cadence. According to Marpurg, composers started to use it in galant vocal music from about

1730. [PPT]

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In one of its most common realizations of that time, scale degree one, with fermata sign, is

followed by scale degree two with a trill. Soloists were supposed to improvise during the

fermata, announcing the end of their virtuosic adventures through the trill. This device is

described by a lot of theorists, among them Marpurg himself. [PPT]

The procedure can be very clearly illustrated in an example by Graun: the aria 'Tra le procelle

assorto' from his Cesare e Cleopatra (1742). At the moment the bass reaches the fifth scale

degree, with fermata, the solo voice holds the dissonant fourth and the other instrumental

parts drop out. The soprano then adds a little improvisation, ending with a trill on scale degree

two. [Listening example, 0'17] I briefly investigated galant opera arias by Hasse and Graun. It

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was clear that this specific 'cadenza' variant of the Marpurg cadence almost exclusively

signals strong structural positions, reinforced by its striking ornamentations and always

confirming a preceding modulation. [PPT]

Its possible formal locations in the da capo arias from the 1730s on, can be summarized as

follows, ordered hierarchically. First, Marpurg's galant cadence can be the very last cadence for the

solo voice in the home key at the end of the first part; second, it often is the last solo cadence at the

end of the second part; and third, it sometimes confirms the second key in the first part. This same

correlation between the Marpurg cadence, its essential ornamentation and its potential

decisive formal implications can be found in instrumental galant music as well, for instance

in CPE Bach, Quantz, Frederick the Great, and many others.

As in the galant repertoire, classical composers continued to reserve Marpurg's galant cadence

as a strong formal marker. Although in galant music these structural positions without

exception coincided with the establishment of a new key, this is not always the case anymore

in classical music. Mozart, for instance, sometimes writes a Marpurg cadence after the first

theme in a sonata exposition, still remaining in the home key. Whatever its formal position, in

the classical repertoire ornamentation on scale degree two still was an unquestionable feature

of Marpurg's galant cadence. Even more: the type of ornamentation played a crucial role in

defining the strength and thus the structural weight of this cadential schema. Compared to the

galant style, the preference for the trill on scale degree two faded. Instead of it, an

appoggiatura, as a grace note or written out, or a turn was favored, at least in the written

score.

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The tight link between Marpurg's cadence, its prescribed ornamentation and its formal

significance in the classical repertoire can be nicely demonstrated in the slow movement of

Mozart's K. 575 string quartet. The B-section of this large ternary already ends with

Marpurg's galant cadence. And in the recapitulation of A, A', the concluding cadence of its

compound period is a Marpurg cadence as well. [PPT]

This same cadence is then repeated twice in the coda, but now Mozart radically alters its

shape to provide stronger closure: the scheme is nicely augmented and much more

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ornamented than in the previous appearances. Even in the V-I chord connections in the last

bars, Mozart still echoes Marpurg's galant cadence. [Listening example, 0'56]

In the early 19th-century repertoire, Marpurg's galant cadence was gradually less frequently

used. But in contrast to other galant cadences, e.g. the so-called Cudworth cadence, it did not

disappear at all. The major difference with galant and classical music, however, concerns its

former undeniable connection with strong formal positions. Romantic composers mostly

wrote Marpurg cadences with another objective in mind: they seemingly wanted to refer

smoothly to a certain galant feeling, introducing a moment of elegant relief. Such usage of

Marpurg's galant cadence as a topos is often associated with feminine characters or with a

religious atmosphere. Two fragments can serve as typical illustrations: Agathe's aria 'Leise,

leise, fromme Weise' from Weber's Freischütz and the Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's

Tannhäuser. [PPT] [Listening example, 0'20]

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In his Piano Sonata D. 537, composed in 1817, Schubert consciously plays with both

implications of Marpurg's galant cadence. On the one hand, he was well aware of its

characteristic ornamentations and its formal significance in the works of the classical masters.

On the other hand, he seemed to have been already sensitive for the potential expressive

meaning of Marpurg's galant cadence, absorbing a new stylistic language and urging for

adventurous compositional paths. In the first movement of this Piano Sonata in A minor,

Schubert uses the Marpurg cadence in the galant or classical way: as a confirmation of the

modulation to the second key in a sonata-exposition, here F major. [PPT]

As you can see, Schubert not only embellishes scale degree two with a written-out long

appoggiatura, but adds some ornaments to scale degree one as well. The combination of an

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appoggiatura and a lower changing note resembles the shape of a turn. The potential

concluding power of this first Marpurg cadence in bars 38-39 is partially weakened through

the immediate repetition of the secondary theme. But in bars 52-53 Schubert repeats exactly

the same cadence, this time leading to the expected structural closure. [PPT] [Listening

example, 0'33]

With this cadential scheme and its specific formal meaning in mind, the third movement of

the Piano Sonata is an extraordinary and interesting challenge for the listener.

From the very beginning of this Allegro vivace, it is clear that Schubert uses Marpurg's galant

cadence in a totally different way. Its coloristic qualities seem to be much more important,

typical for the romantic repertoire, although Schubert constantly and explicitly refers to its

possible formal impact as well. After the first stormy ascending unison scale, the expressive

contrast could barely be sharper: two smooth, soft and static chords lead to an affected

Marpurg cadence, precisely the same scheme as the one which structurally closed the first

movement. But now Schubert leaves out the resolution completely, as if it is too early to

conclude the theme. [PPT] [Listening example, 0'09]

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This same procedure is repeated three times, as if Schubert searches for the right tonality: first

in B flat major, then apparently recovered again into A minor. The third time, however,

Schubert aims at A major, but the expected resolution fails one more time. [Listening

example, 0'25] [PPT]

From bar 31, a light-hearted gesture and a descending scale fulfill the transition to the

dominant of A major. In bar 47, however, Schubert seemingly changes his mind and locks the

dominant of B minor. After a mediant transition, the beginning of the secondary theme

exhibits another surprising goal after the tonal wandering so far: it starts in bar 59 in D major,

which is the key of the fourth scale degree, and not in the deceptively prepared B minor or the

dominant key E minor. [PPT] [Listening example, 0'23]

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The motivic content of this secondary theme contains an undeniable link with the cadential

gestures from the opening bars as well as with the structural cadence from the first movement.

[PPT] Both the turn-like embellishment of scale degree one and the subsequent long

appoggiatura pointing to scale degree two, although slightly varied, strongly resemble the

Marpurg cadence from e.g. bars 7-8.

The first motive is then preserved in the fragmentation process in bars 71 to 94, which finally

carries us to a strong six-four chord in E major, the major-mode dominant key of A minor.

[Listening example, 0'25] [PPT]

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This six-four chord in E major in bar 95 signals the first section of the movement where

Schubert offers the listener music which firmly stays in the same key, except the typical

minor-major shifts. The empathic V-I progressions in bars 111 to 119 confirm this

experience, seemingly just waiting for the concluding cadence to come. [PPT]

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In bar 130 Schubert then subtly connects the secondary theme in E major with the motive to

which it so clearly referred to: the original Marpurg cadence from the opening bars. But even

this nicely prepared cadence, at the same time a kind of summary of the music so far and an

expanded cadential progression, fails to realize its expected resolution. [PPT]

The music from bar 111 on abruptly enters again, leading in bar 155 to the same summarizing

cadence as in bar 130. And now Schubert very obviously shows that it's his conscious

objective NOT to provide cadential closure throughout this whole movement. He twice

repeats the lamenting appoggiatura on scale degree two, leaving out the resolution again and

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following it by a general pause, as he did so often in the very beginning of the piece. [PPT]

[Listening example, 0'43]

Schubert not only refuses to grant the listener cadential satisfaction, the tonal plan of the

second part of the movement confuses even more. [PPT]

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As you can see in this overview, bars 164 to 309 recapitulate the same thematic material and

formal organization of the music up till now. However, the tonal choices are rather unusual.

Schubert first transposes the first section up a fifth to e minor, slightly resembling the

transposition down a fifth, as he does in e.g. the first movement of the Trout Quintet. One of

the possible outcomes of such a strategy is the secondary theme immediately being in the

right key, the home key, without having to make changes to the transition. [PPT]

The dominant in f# minor in bar 220 sounds promising: a mediant transition could indeed

introduce the secondary theme in A major. But Schubert instead first shifts up the previous

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dominant-lock half a tone, aiming at the dominant of G. And second, he uses this dominant as

a real dominant towards the secondary theme, thus beginning in G major. [PPT]

From there, the music is an exact recapitulation of the corresponding section in the first part,

now indeed transposed down a fifth. As a result, a bright A major section from bar 266 seems

to provide the final answer to the tonal detours in this movement. But in bar 309, Schubert

leaves the listener with the same unsatisfying feeling as at the end of the first part: the twice

repeated lamenting appoggiatura and then the silence... [Listening example, 1'50]

The coda from bar 310 to 367 has to furnish the resolution: will Schubert at last bring his

tonal wandering tour to an end, eventually with a fully realized Marpurg cadence, which

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stands at the heart of this movement? After a literal recapitulation of the opening bars in a

minor, bar 330 brings about a deceptive resolution of Marpurg's galant cadence in that key.

[PPT]

This F major harmony is then prolonged, after which a typical Schubertian third relationship

suddenly points to a cadential six-four in A major in bar 350. Leaving all Marpurg cadences

unresolved, Schubert ends the sonata with one of the most basic cadential voice leading

patterns: 5-1, only ornamented with some essential rhythmic pulsation and followed by a final

fortissimo chord as a last ironical sneer to the listener. [Listening example, 0'43] [PPT]

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As a conclusion, we can state that Schubert's Piano Sonata D. 537 nicely exemplifies the

apparent change, both functionally and rhetorically, concerning the use of Marpurg's

specifically galant cadence from the 1730s on. In the vocal and instrumental galant repertoire,

Marpurg's cadential schema, with its essential ornamentations, operates as an emphatic tonal

and thus formal marker. In classical music, these intertwined functions shift towards a more

nuanced handling. Later on, in the romantic repertoire, the galant touch of this cadence

gradually seems to become more important than its former structural potential. However, in

the third movement of his Piano Sonata D. 537, Schubert fully employs both aspects of

Marpurg's galant cadence. On the one hand, he accentuates the expressive contrast between

the general tone of the sonata and its crucial motive, namely Marpurg's cadential scheme. On

the other hand, he effectively plays with the formal implications of the Marpurg cadence, both

from a historical and a piece's intrinsic point of view.

Thank you for your attention.