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3 - Formula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2019

W. Dean Sutcliffe
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
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Summary

Deals with the perceived conventional and formulaic aspects of the style, starting with a discussion (and defence) of convention itself. I show how through various forms of distortion and contextual manipulation, conventions and formulas may be renewed. One such convention is the grammatical essential of the cadence, which is often refreshed when a simple, understated cadential formulation appears to undercut a preceding passage of a brilliant or emotionally heated nature. I consider how this and other such patterns demonstrate a taste for reduction, ‘to say more with less’, showing a creative distrust of a certain kind of rhetorical eloquence. Another way of understanding such manoeuvres is that they compel the attention of the listener, and this term is found frequently in writings on music of the time. Its opposite state, boredom, is, I argue, ‘written into’ some music in the form of distractions and non sequiturs. A further type of renewal of attention can be achieved by mixing up or conflating the three formal functions of beginning, middle and ending, and the final portion of the chapter considers the handling of such functional signs.

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Chapter
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Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
Haydn, Mozart and Friends
, pp. 267 - 427
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Formula
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe, University of Auckland
  • Book: Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
  • Online publication: 19 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139012126.004
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  • Formula
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe, University of Auckland
  • Book: Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
  • Online publication: 19 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139012126.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Formula
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe, University of Auckland
  • Book: Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
  • Online publication: 19 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139012126.004
Available formats
×