Music

on the molecular level:

Mozarts Menuetto and the modulatory bridge to nowhere

A Brief Analysis of Mozarts Serenade No. 13, mvt. III by Gerard Jones


A basic premise of music on the molecular level is that in masterpieces of high

musical art, all musical elements and the ideas they represent within the context of

a piece will be presented in the first few measures. This differs from the perception

that great masterpieces contain vast amounts of material; just the opposite is

frequently true: masterful composers often use very little material to create

complex musical structures through a process of higher order thinking

that reflects the superior logic, genius and artistic vision of gifted composers.

Occasionally the musical elements are presented in the first few pitches.

In the Menuetto of Mozarts Serenade No. 13 in G Major, the composer creates the

entire movement from the first four pitches, d - g - a - b:

Example 1:

The above example gives the violin 1 part and cello downbeats for the antecedent

phrase. The cello part is the retrograde of the first four pitches, temporally

expanded to 4 measures, by placing each pitch on the downbeat of each measure.

This means the antecedent phrase is grounded and based on the first four pitches,


and also communicates to the listener the importance of downbeats to the internal

logic of the movement as a whole within the context of the piece. Since the

Menuetto is in three-part song form, the antecedent phrase is followed by a

consequent phrase, the first period followed by a second period consisting of a

contrasting phrase and the consequent phrase of the first period.

The Trio of the piece is a temporally expanded mosaic paraphrase of the antecedent

phrase of the Menuetto transposed to the dominant with a modulatory bridge

to nowhere (ex. 4) interpolated between the repetitions of its single period :

Example 2:

Trio 1st musical period

The downbeats of each measure are the principal pitches of the antecedent phrase

of the menuetto with the same intervallic content, except for the transfer

of register down to g2 instead of up to g3, and the omission of the a2 and b2 since

they are included as an integral part of the trio melody after the pick up.

Once Mozarts logic is perceived, the pitches on the downbeats of the melodic line of

the Trio can be predicted:

Example 3:

Menuetto, ant. phrase: D G (a b) C A B G A G

Trio, 1st musical period: A D
G E F# D E D



P4 P4 m3 M2 M3 M2 M2


Example 4a:

Modulatory bridge




m. 27

Example 4b:

m. 27 vln. 1 retrograde of cello m. 3 w/ register transfer

to treble and paraphrased using the inversion of



the melodic line in m. 9 (the contrasting phrase)
m. 3

D: V/V

The harmonic determinant pitch, C-sharp, is at the end of measure three in the bass.

In the Trio the G-sharp, which is cognate to the C-sharp in m. 3, is at the beginning of

measure 27 in the treble. Mozart could have simply repeated the eight measure

period twice, which is what most composers of the time would do, achieving

a conventional balance and symmetry between the Trio and the Menuetto of sixteen


measures each. But this is Mozart, and as with all great composers, he transcends

the form and achieves a far more compelling and unique sense of symmetry,

balance, and affective quality through the temporal expansion, transposition and

paraphrasing of the antecedent phrase of the menuetto. This explains WHY there is

a modulatory bridge to nowhere interpolated between the two repetitions of the

single musical period of the Trio because there was a modulatory function at the

end of the third measure of the first antecedent phrase of the menuetto from which

the entire piece developed, a temporally expanded modulatory passage cognate

to it had to occur in the trio as an essential feature of its internal logic. The

harmonic structure of the Trio is simple in contrast to the harmonic structure of

the menuetto, where there is a different function or inversion on every beat,

because Mozart wants the listeners attention focused on the melodic line.

Since the first four pitches of the piece are used structurally through a retrograde

temporal expansion as the foundation of the first antecedent phrase, and the first

antecedent phrase is transposed to V and temporally expanded through mosaic

paraphrase to create the Trio, in a very real sense the entire piece spins out from

these first 4 pitches. Even a simple and charming piece such as this demonstrates

Mozarts extraordinary level of compositional mastery and higher order musical

thinking, transcending the form through his genius, and distinguishing his music

from that of his peers. The genius is in the details, and the details are often to be

found embedded at the molecular level; this type of musical thinking will have a

profound influence on a developing Ludwig van Beethoven.

Example 5: Full Score

G: I6 ii I vi V6/V V

I6

ii V I vi IV V7 I

viio4/3/vi vi6 viio4/3/V V6

D: I

V7

ii6 ii V7 I

V7

V7/V

vi