MUS 150 class 4/22/14

J.S. Bach: "Bourree" is at 5:30 into this video.

Form is AABB, A section 20 seconds or so, then repeated.
B section is longer, and then also repeated.
The Bourree starts and ends in the home key.

Bach is from the Baroque period, 1600-1750. He was one of the masters of composition in this style.

The next big period to follow was the Classical Period ion 1750-1825. This period gave us Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.

We didn't go straight from Baroque to Classical, though. In between, there was a period that I call the "Ugly Duckling" period. The composers knew that they wanted a change, but weren't sure what that was going to be.

I played an example by G.B. Sammartini in class.
Sinfonia in F.

The form is similar to Bach, but forward looking. The A section is repeated, then a B section, but this new style adds the A section at the end.
The form is this: A A (starts at 0:30) B (starts at 0:59) A (starts at 1:23) B (starts at 1:55) A (starts at 2:17)

With music that is getting longer, I think we need to hear something every 15 or 20 seconds to keep us on track and following along.
FOr the Bach piece, each section is fairly short, so there is no need to overthink our way through it.
Now, for this work, we need a few more landmarks to follow.

For the A section, there is a Theme in the beginning (Theme 1) (0:01), followed by a short Transition (0:10), then another theme (Theme 2) (0:17).

Theme 2 is marked by the triplets before the final cadence.

Then the A section repeats. (0:30)

The B section (0:59) contrasts by being busier, more intense, and avoiding the home key. Our ear doesn't know what to follow or where we are, but it doesn't last very long.
Soon, the B section intensity begins to run "out of gas" and settles down. At that point, we hear something familiar again - the home key and Theme 1. (1:23)

This is the repeat of the A section, and we'll also hear the Transition(1:33). Theme 2 is a bit wishy-washy, and not easily heard at the end of this piece.

The B section and final A repeat once again (at 1:55).

Every 20 seconds or so, there is something new to listen for and follow. So the listener can still feel like it's possible to follow along.

Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and all the greats that followed all used a much more mature and perfected version of this form. It's called Sonata Allegro form, and when you are listening to a large-scale musical work, you can expect that some or all of it will be in this form.

My crazy position and the topic of my Doctoral Dissertation should I ever decide to pursue it:
I maintain that John Cage's 4'33" is not in 3 movements as the score states, but rather is in one continuous movement, and in Sonata Allegro Form.