18th Century Phrase

Hello Bloggers!

            So in class we have been learning about The Enlightenment and what a Parallel Interrupted Period and Parallel Sectional Period is. In my blog post today I had to pick a song either from Haydn or Mozart, two great and iconic composers of the Enlightenment and analyze a period within their composition. I also had to analyze the texture, and melody of the piece.

           The song I chose was from Haydn. It was  “String Quartet op. 1 (no. 1, no. 2, no. 3)”. Yes the Youtube video I picked is 49 minutes long, I did not listen to all of it! I listened to the first few minutes of the piece and analyzed the beginning of the piece.

The texture of the piece was structured just like the Enlightenment. The piece starts off strong with many string instruments playing the same melody together. The texture is also deep; there is a variety of string instruments playing together not just one instrument playing alone. The melody is soft, the pressure being applied to the bow is light, there are moments like at :21, where the tempo is sped up and a individual violin plays a fast melody but is soon joined again by the other string instruments and the original melody sets in again. With the string instruments the melody of the piece sounds light and cheerful. It’s graceful like the Enlightenment. With a string quartet there is equal share of playing time this equality was also a part of the Enlightenment. People began to break down the traditional caste system, anyone could invent something or present a theory; it was a time where literacy and knowledge skyrocketed. People weren’t restricted to their class status there was equality; there wasn’t a huge gap between the wealthy and poor anymore.

The phrase structure of this Haydn String Quartet is a Parallel Sectional Period. The part of the piece I took this from was the very beginning. Right when it starts I found out whether it was parallel or contrasting and interrupted or sectional.

The reason this is a Parallel period is because of how the second half of the phrase in the period is almost identical or “parallel” to the first half. As you listen to the piece from :00 to :05 is the first cadence, and from :05 to :11 the second cadence plays and the melody is almost the same except for the last few notes. This relates back to Enlightenment ideals because the style of the time was about repetition, symmetry, and structure. The repetition of notes relates to the repetition on pillars, windows and decorations of the buildings in the Enlightenment like the Palace of Versailles.

            Along with being a parallel period it is also a sectional period. The reason why it is sectional instead of interrupted period is because the first cadence in this string quartet ends on an Imperfect Authentic Cadence (IAC). An IAC is when the last note of the cadence ends on a tonic chord which is either Do (1), Mi (3), or Sol (5). The first cadence of the String Quartet by Hayden ending at :005 ends on Mi (3) making it a IAC causing it to be a parallel sectional period. The reason it is not interrupted is because the end of the cadence wasn’t a Half Cadence meaning it didn’t end on Sol (5), Ti (7), Re (2).

            Many of the compositions written during or after the Enlightenment embodies some of the aspects of the Enlightenment, this String Quartet piece is one of them; it exemplifying the repetition and organization of the Enlightenment. 
-Kelsey