Conceived as the response to a normally concise first part, the second reprise un-folds through such processes as motivic development, rhythmic and melodic alter-ation or contrast, and harmonic excursion, sometimes incorporating an emphasized apex of pitch, dynamics, or harmonic intensity before a return to stability. Sim-plest in overall structure, although sometimes procedurally complex, are those that complement the first reprise to create a straight binary form, as in Op. 2/4/iv, whose first part comprises a pair of vividly contrasted, four-measure phrases: loud versus soft, staccato versus legato, middle register versus low. The second reprise both elaborates and reconciles the juxtaposed contrasts, offering two identical two-measure units that incorporate elements from both phrases of the first part, then progressing to a climactic passage that attains a peak of f3(m. 14) before re-calling the staccato quarter notes of measure 3 (m. 15) as it begins the descent to a cadence in the same register with which the movement began. Minuets whose second part similarly complements or intensifies the first comprise scarcely more than a handful, scattered among quartets through Op. 20. In every instance but one (Op. 9/2), the first part ends either in the dominant key or on a dominant chord; and in all but two cases, the second part exceeds the first by four or more measures (see table 5.3).
In contrast to these simple binary structures, the vast majority of Haydn’s quartet minuets may be described as rounded binary forms whose second reprise begins with a span of development or contrast (which can simply be labeled B) before a substantial return of first-reprise material (A), which may be literal, tonally adjusted, or otherwise altered, and that may be followed by a supplementary
ap-t a b l e 5 . 3 Simple binary-form minueap-ts
Opus 1st repr. 2d repr. Comments on the design of the 2d reprise
1/2/ii 12 18 Altered recurrence of mm. 1–4; then new material follows 2/4/iv 8 12 1st-reprise motives elaborated; final phrase recalls 1st-reprise
material
9/2/ii 10 10 Corresponds closely to 1st reprise
9/4/ii 20 28 Extends and elaborates 1st-reprise material, largely retaining its order
17/3/ii 16 16 Corresponds approximately to 1st reprise; appendage recalls 1st phrase
20/4/iii 8 12 Elaborates opening material; latter part corresponds closely to 1st reprise
20/6/iii 8 12 Motivic development and new material; replica of opening phrase at end functions as an appendage
t a b l e 5 . 4 Rounded binary minuets with literal, or nearly literal, recurrence of first-reprise material (|| A :||:B A :||)
Opus ||A :||: B A [appendage]:|| Comments on appendages
1/1/ii 10 14 10
1/4/ii 8 14 8
0/ii 7 14 7
1/6/iv 9 14 9
2/2/iv 12 18 12
9/3/ii 12 6 12
9/5/ii 8 12 8
20/1/ii 8 16 8 12 Elaborates and summarizes A and B material
33/2/ii 10 14 10
33/3/ii 10 14 10
33/4/ii 8 8 8
33/5/iii 10 22 10
33/6/iii 8 10 8
50/2/iii 8 16 8a 18 Develops and recalls A, rises to a climax
50/3/iii 12 24 15a 6 Recalls A material
50/6/iii 8 16 8
54/1/iii 10 14 11a 9 Recalls and intensifies A material 54/2/iii 8 16 8 14 Echoes A material, rises to a climax
54/3/iii 8 22 8
64/3/iii 14 18 17 9 Extends, recalls, and develops A and B materialb
64/4/ii 8 16 8
71/2/iii 10 9 9
aEnds with a deceptive, extended, or otherwise incomplete cadence.
bAdditional complications are illustrated in figure 5.3.
pendage. The simplest rounded binary designs are those, listed in table 5.4, in which the first reprise begins and ends in tonic, and its material comes back lit-erally, or nearly so, in the latter part of the second reprise. The form is thus an-chored to a pair of structural pillars whose tonal stability frames volatile activity in between. Examples of this type occur in nearly all opus groups, with a partic-ular concentration in Op. 33. All are in major, and in most instances the central area of the form involves modulation, or at least allusion, to the dominant. (Sev-eral traverse other related keys, and one, Op. 2/2/iv, has no modulation at all.)
The quartets’ other rounded binary minuets prove more complex than most of those listed here, because they involve alteration or expansion of first-reprise material rather than simple recurrence. More often than not, they incorporate a
substantial appendage prior to the close (as in the six exceptional cases noted in table 5.4). The result is a kind of form in which the latter part of the second reprise may exceed its obligatory function of recurrence (literal or tonally al-tered) by offering fresh intrigue or heightened rhetorical emphasis.
The repertory of these forms is substantial, comprising almost fifty minuets, and their formal diversity covers an impressive range of possibilities. Most straight-forward are those in which first-reprise material returns largely intact apart from simple tonal adjustments and appendages. More complex situations include several (mostly early) minuets whose point of return is colored by imitative entries, canon, or by changes in harmonic orientation and melodic profile. Other cases, both early and late, involve variation or extension of returning first-reprise material.
Certain connotations of the minuet—notably its formality, stylized demeanor, and impressions of physical presence and motion—naturally suggest the appro-priateness of a full-bodied cadence to mark the end of the dance and bring all ac-tion to a stop, and yet there are those that end by dropping to a quiet dynamic level in the manner of a quizzical afterthought. In Op. 64/6/iii, for example, an evidently premature closing phrase (mm. 29–32) drives to a reassuringly decisive cadence on the downbeat of measure 32 (see ex. 5.4). To all intents and pur-poses, this would seem to mark the end of the minuet. But this is not what happens.
Instead, a quietly mocking, metrically out-of-kilter addendum in measures 33–36 transpires as an impudent, parenthetical comment on the preceding action.
Trios
Bracketed by the minuets’ statement and recurrence, and thus positioned to serve as an interlude or digression from the main line of thought, the trio tends to be relatively compact, and in fact there are no more than twenty quartets, distrib-uted among earlier as well as later opus groups, with trios either equal in size to their respective minuets or longer. The trios often impress us with a certain pithy, sometimes almost static quality, the result of dwelling on a single figure, motive, rhythmic impetus, or timbre. To cite a striking example, every measure in the
Va
Vc 8va
Vn2, Va, Vc 29
Vn2
Vn1 33
e x a m p l e 5 . 4 Op. 64/6/iii, mm. 29–36
Op. 71/2 trio contains the same, hauntingly persistent figure, although its dispo-sition among the ensemble members changes repeatedly, especially in the second reprise: dotted half notes in one or more parts as the backdrop for a pattern con-sisting of a rest on beat 1 followed by dissonant attack on beat two which is slurred to an upward or downward resolution on beat 3.
For the vast majority of trios, the tonal center is the same as for the minuet, with the opposite mode being chosen in nearly half these cases. Several others, mostly early, are cast in closely related keys: dominant, subdominant, relative minor, or submediant. As noted earlier, four quartets from the 1790s venture to a more distant key for the trio: major submediant in Op. 74/1, lowered submediant in Opp. 74/2, 77/1, and 77/2.
With respect to overall structure, Haydn avails himself of approximately the same options for trios as for minuets, although in accordance with the trios’ ten-dency toward greater concision and uniformity, he has more trios than minuets in simple two-part binary form (listed in table 5.5), fewer trios with supplemen-tary appendages, and more instances in which the return in a rounded binary form is shorter than the first reprise. Among this last-mentioned group is a type not found in any of the minuets: one in which the first and second reprise are of equal length (eight measures each), and the return consists solely of a replica or variant of the opening four-measure phrase.10A distinctive touch in a number of the rounded binary trios involves the return of the principal melodic line in a different register or instrumental sonority, as in Op. 71/3, where the trio’s open-ing melodic descent in the cello, initially unaccompanied, undergoes a thorough
t a b l e 5 . 5 Trios in simple binary form
*The long second reprise is a special case but nonetheless belongs in the binary category with respect to tonal and the-matic content.
Opus 1st reprise 2d reprise
1/1/ii 14 14
1/6/ii 8 12
2/6/iv 8 8
9/2/ii 8 14
9/4/ii 8 8
17/1/ii 10 22*
33/1/ii 14 12
33/4/ii 9 10
42/ii 8 8
54/2/iii 10 16
55/3/iii 8 12
transformation in character as it returns in the latter part of the second reprise.
Here it sounds not in the cello but three octaves higher in the first violin, rein-forced by the second violin from below, and further harmonized by a rising line in the viola. Coloristic nuance thus takes precedence over the more common rhetoric of straight recurrence at this crucial moment in the form. (Although specially featured among the trios, the device does occur in several minuets as well.) Finally there are trios, yet to be discussed, in which the second reprise is incomplete—cut short to make way for a transition back to the minuet, and therefore not subject to repetition.