Haydn occasionally challenges his own sonata form customs by circumventing any normally positioned boundary between the form’s latter two sections. Easi-est to explain are those cases in which the recapitulation appears to be fore-shortened by some logically motivated omission of everything prior to the sec-ondary theme, as in the finale of Op. 9/4, in which a close resemblance between the exposition’s primary and secondary themes gives rise to a musical pun. The tonic key is reinstated at measure 73 with the semblance of a return to the move-ment’s opening idea. However, this turns out not to be a version of the primary theme per se but its stand-in, the related secondary theme, first heard at measure 20. Restored to tonic, it serves to initiate an abbreviated recapitulation.
In several other instances of foreshortened recapitulation, a key ingredient is the persistence of developmental action well beyond the point where a return to tonic could reasonably have been expected. A prime example, the slow
move-ment of Op. 20/3 (G major), begins its developmove-ment by sounding the opening theme in the dominant, then tracing a modulatory route to the dominant of A minor (reached in mm. 64–65). The span encompassed so far is a bit short for a development section (its twenty-four measures barely exceed half the size of the exposition), and the meaning of the event that follows—a primary theme state-ment in C—therefore seems ambivalent: Could this be the start of a recapitula-tion that starts on the subdominant (rare for Haydn but not out of the quesrecapitula-tion stylistically)? In fact, it prefaces a long, emotionally charged excursion, led by the high solo cello, whose lyrical voice persists from measure 70 to the downbeat of measure 84, where the arrival on a dominant plateau signals an imminent re-turn to tonic. The movement now concludes not with a full recapitulation but with a replica of the exposition’s latter part, restored to tonic (m. 89 corresponds to m. 19). (This scheme may be compared with that of the early Op. 2/4/i, rep-resented in figure 8.1: uncanny resemblances between the two movements, de-spite rather extreme differences in tempo and character, include a comparably placed turn to the subdominant—following a cadence on the dominant of the supertonic—and the insertion of an additional span of development before a late return to tonic.)
There are other instances in which the development section, rather than overreaching normal limits, finds itself curtailed, at least temporarily, by an early return to tonic key and primary theme. This event may in turn yield to further excursion, as in Op. 1/2/i, so that elements of development and recapitulation intermingle, encroaching on one another’s territory. Here the movement’s open-ing phrase (Pa) returns at measure 56, after just eight measures of development over a dominant pedal, which seems too early for the start of a bona fide reca-pitulation, and a new phase of modulatory activity gets under way in measure 65.
Only in measure 85 does the recurrence of exposition material in tonic resume with a tonally adjusted return of the exposition’s second phrase, Pa1. The result-ing design, in which elements of elaboration and return alternate in the latter part of the form, has been aptly described as a species of disjunct recapitulation.21
Codas
In a large majority of the quartets’ sonata-related forms, the end of the recapitu-lation corresponds to the end of the exposition, and with this the movement comes to a close. The correspondence may be only approximate, as when the ex-position ends with destabilizing, transitional activity, and alteration is therefore necessary to bring about a satisfying conclusion. There are also numerous cases in which the point of decisive close at the end of the recapitulation is prolonged by several measures, sometimes through reiterations of a motivic figure, or else by a thematically neutral descent over a tonic pedal point.
More elaborate closing strategies may be found among sonata forms of the quartets’ fast outer movements, which occasionally entail appendages that are structurally significant. The span in question may emerge seamlessly from the end of the recapitulation, and initially it may prove indistinguishable from a simple extension; but as it unfolds, it acquires identity as an event in its own right, defining its own field of action as a functionally discrete element in the design.
Its nature varies considerably from one work to the next, although in a general sense it can be said to enrich the form with added motivic complication, har-monic emphasis, summarizing thematic recollection, or antic ensemble play, and thereby to end on a note of emphasized finality, mystery, comedy, or structural surprise in ways that, at least in retrospect, may have been anticipated by fore-going events. The term “coda,” applied by Haydn and his contemporaries to spec-ify various kinds of formal appendage, and subject to more narrow definition by later commentators,22serves as a convenient label for this phenomenon. Our use of the term in the discussion that follows will be deliberately restrictive in an at-tempt to capture palpable distinctions—but also pointed ambiguities—in Haydn’s practice.
Easiest to specify, at least in certain outward respects, are those that fall out-side the conventional double bar and repeat sign—presumably a reliable marker for the end of the recapitulation proper. In all, there are twelve movements that follow this scheme. Curiously, all but two occur in quartets before Op. 50 (see table 4.2).23
Although they differ in size, thematic content, compositional technique, and rhetorical significance, each has enough functional independence to be designated as a coda. Several ambitious ones constitute true perorations, developing impor-tant ideas as they form a resounding conclusion to the movement. Perhaps most memorable of all is the harmonically adventurous coda to Op. 20/5/i, which strays deep into remote tonal regions before swelling to forte, highlighting the restora-tion of tonic with scalar flourishes, then closing enigmatically with a pair of low-register chords sounded pianissimo. Others from among this list concentrate on the concise, valedictory recall of one or more themes, followed by either an en-ergetic ringing down of the curtain (for example, Op. 17/4/iv) or a quiet retreat (as in Op. 9/5/iv). Still others play for humor, subtlety, or understatement, some-times calling up fragmentary thematic recollections as a sign of wistful farewell.
By analogy with the codas listed in table 4.2, others may be recognized, not always unambiguously, in movements whose latter part is entirely enclosed by the conventional repeat, or else where a second-part repeat is absent. As a rule, such cases require a degree of parallelism between exposition and recapitulation, in order for us to have a clear idea of where the recapitulation per se leaves off and where the coda begins. In Op. 71/2/i, for example, a full recurrence of a tune-ful closing idea (mm. 104–14) matches that theme’s original appearance toward the end of the exposition (mm. 39–49). The remaining portion of the
move-ment, measures 115–25, may therefore be appreciated as a coda: a span that em-braces both a dense summary of thematic elements, including the specific recol-lection of an idea from the development section, and a bass line whose stepwise descent through the tonic scale (mm. 120–23) helps ground the movement’s en-ergies as the end approaches.
What motivates these codas? First of all, there are movements whose exalted rhetoric and seriousness of purpose call for something more emphatic than a simple equivalent of the exposition’s closing theme: the first movements of Op. 20/5 (F minor) and 76/2 (D minor) stand out in this regard. In other cases, it appears that elements of fierce rhythmic or motivic intensity require the extra space of a coda to discharge tension and provide a suitably stable close. The opening movement of Op. 54/1, cast in a bright G major and charged with a near over-abundance of energy from the start, gives the impression of an intense buildup of pressure in its recapitulation: Haydn telescopes the duration of the section by some twenty measures, and he crowds its surface with sixteenth-note figuration.
Momentum now overflows from a varied recurrence of the original closing theme (mm. 107–13) to what may be described as an elaborate, thematically di-verse coda whose salient events include the braking force of a phrase dominated by long note values (mm. 122–25) and a final burst of energy in which the ex-position’s opening and closing gestures are embraced in a single valedictory phrase (mm. 126–31).
t a b l e 4 . 2 Sonata form movements in which the coda falls outside the repeat of the latter part
In all except those marked by an asterisk (*), connection from the end of the recapitulation to the start of the coda is accomplished by way of a second ending.
Opus Key Length
9/5/iv B 19
17/1/iv E 23
17/4/i Cm 10
17/4/iv Cm 18
17/6/iv D 6*
20/5/i Fm 23
33/3/i C 17
33/4/i B 41⁄2*
33/6/i D 16
42/iv Dm 8*
71/3/i E 28*
76/2/i Dm 16
The rationale for a coda is not always obvious, and in some cases it may be whimsical in intent. The finale of Op. 64/3, for example, presents a recapitula-tion that tracks the exposirecapitula-tion closely enough to convince us that we can tell just where and how the movement is likely to end. All signals therefore seem clear as the exposition’s closing phrases begin their timely recurrence (mm. 204–9, corresponding to mm. 67–72 in the exposition). But the second phrase, eliding with the end of the first at measure 209 (corresponding to mm. 72–79, with which the exposition had ended), goes off course: an elongated melodic arc defeats all expectations of immediate closure, although its registrally extended line—the f3 of measures 214–15 is the highest note of the movement—does eventually lead to a decisive cadence at measure 225. And yet the action persists, this time with a recollection of the entire opening theme, no less, so that the movement’s will-ful refusal to end begins to seem incurable. Along with this latest event comes a new promise, however: the latter part of the closing phrase (mm. 206–9) had ac-tually made its first appearance as an ingredient of the primary theme (mm. 7–10).
Will it return now, as part of the primary theme’s surprise recall? If so, will it help restore order and bring about a satisfying conclusion after all? The closing for-mula does in fact reappear (mm. 232–35), but once again the movement de-clines to end: a succession of cadential figures, rests, and liquidating motivic frag-ments continues to tease for ten more measures before the long-delayed close finally transpires. Although comparable to other codas examined as a function-ally discrete series of postrecapitulation events, this one seems inspired less by matters of necessity or rhetorical conviction than by an urge to engage us in a game inspired by the very topic of the coda as a musical entity.