Arpeggione Assignment
the first movement of Schubert, Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821 (1824)
I. Make a complete form diagram of the piece. On the diagram be sure to include the macro divisions into Exposition, Development, Recapitulation, etc., and also the more micro divisions into themes (i.e., P, TR, S, etc.). In addition to themes, your diagram should also include keys and major authentic cadences, even for the development section. Do not forget measure numbers!
Please also turn in a copy of the first page of the score with Roman numerals beneath all the chords from m. 1-10.
The following questions are to be taken as prompts for your prose essay, which can be structured any way you choose. The essay should be between three and four pages in length. You will not be able to address all of these, but try to address as many as you can—you will choose what’s relevant to your paper.
Exposition:
• Mention the chromaticism that appears in mm. 6-10 (you will have completed a harmonic analysis of these measures!).
• Is there anything unusual about the P-zone?
• Where is TR, and to what key does it modulate? (Bonus: where is the MC?)
• What harmonic strategy undergirds the presentation of the S theme?
• How many times does the listener hear S?
• Where are there evaded cadences? What effect does that have on your hearing of the piece? (Bonus: describe why the PAC at m. 53 does not have the closural effect that the first PAC in S-space usually does.) How, exactly, does Schubert evaded the rest of the cadences? Where does closure of S-space actually occur?
Development:
• What keys are articulated in the development, and how are those keys related to the main tonality of A minor?
• What themes are treated in the development? With what thematic modules does it open? What theme is treated in mm. 87 forward?
• What are the harmonies in mm. 81-2?
• What progression occurs in mm. 91-4?
• What chord occurs in mm. 95? Does it resolve as it “should”?
• What chord occurs in m. 109? Does it resolve as it “should”?
• Where does RT begin and end? Is any part of it worthy of comment?
Recapitulation:
• Does the recapitulation begin exactly as the exposition did? What’s changed?
• Some tonal alterations are made between mm. 140 and 148. What are they? Bonus: Can you suggest a reason why?
• Are any other alterations made in the recap?
• Where is the final cadence of the recapitulation? What follows it? What material is this section based on? How, exactly, is this material altered from its original presentation? Does its tonality suggest any interpretive insight in terms of its status as “final comment?”