Analyzing Mozart's Key Progression: Unraveling the Harmonic Journey in K.284

Transcript:  
Hi, I'm Gareth Green, and we're just going to have a look at one corner in this video, of part of a first movement of a piano sonata by Mozart. Now, this is K.284, "K" standing for Köchel, that's the way that all of Mozart's music is cataloged. So, you may or may not know this sonata, doesn't really matter for the purposes of what we're doing here. But just to give you a flavor of it, this is the opening of K.284. And so it goes on. So, you might recognize that, you might not; doesn't really matter. It's in sonata form, what we've just heard is the first subject. Then, as we might expect in any sonata form of this period, we have a little break at this point, and then we have a second subject in the dominant key.

And so, it goes on. Okay, well eventually, this whole thing comes to an end with the end of the exposition that you can always find in the classical sonata because you're looking for a repeat sign that takes you back through the whole exposition. The first subject is in the tonic key, the second subject is in the dominant key.

And we come to a big resounding cadence in A major. So we kind of really know that we've arrived at the end of the exposition. So, the next thing that happens is the development section in which a composer develops ideas that we've already heard. Before we come to the return of the exposition material, which we call the recapitulation, things might be reorganized in various ways, but essentially we're going to hear the first subject again in the tonic key, and the second subject will follow normally also transposed to the tonic key. So, this last bar of this page is where the recapitulation begins because as you might see, it's the same as the opening bar that we started with. We're back into that. So, what we have between the top of this page and this point, is the development section.

Now, one thing that might strike you immediately is, well, that's quite a short development section, isn't it? It's only twenty bars, twenty measures long. So, you might think, oh, well you know, I wonder if Mozart made a wise decision there because there's not a lot you can do in twenty bars is there really? I mean you know, you could decide you're going to develop this idea, have a little of; And then, do it in another key; You know, something like that, and fill up twenty bars and carry on.

Well, we'll credit Mozart with more than that. But what this does demonstrate, is even in the classical period, where often you've got an economy of ideas, and an economy of modulation and harmonic movement, actually how much Mozart manages to pack into these twenty bars. And one thing that's interesting, is the whole kind of key scheme of this.

So, we're in D major, the second subject was in A major, that's the key in which we ended at the end of the exposition. So, what does Mozart do at the beginning of this development section? Well, he's taking this semiquaver thing, and if you explore the exposition, you'll see where that material comes from. And he's also got this idea in his left hand. So in the right hand, we got; in the left hand; We've got this, little figure going on down there. So, you know, he's kind of playing with that idea. You see what's happening next, the quavers then budge into the right hand, in the top part rather, which hand you use to play it, of course, is another matter, but into the top part, the semiquavers are in the lower part, then we flick over again, quavers, or the eighth notes in the lower part, the semiquavers,

the sixteenth notes in the upper part. And you can see all the way through, he's kind of alternating this thing between the two hands, so you think well, is that all there is to it then? Let's have a look at what's happening with the keys because this is quite interesting. Bearing in mind, in the classical period, as they say, we tend not to venture too far with our keys.

A minor is where he starts. So he's gone to A major, and then he's dipped straight into the parallel minor. So, all this is A minor. Okay, well that makes sense, but then what's the next thing that happens? Well, now we've ended up going to E minor, okay? This is a dominant chord in E minor, but all of this is taking us into E minor.

Okay, well if we started in A minor and we went to E minor, okay, well E minor is the dominant key in A minor so, maybe that's not too much of a surprise. Well, let's see what happens next. So he's arrived at the dominant chord of E minor. Okay, we seem to be hanging around at E minor for a bit, so that's all right.

So, let's see what happens next. Something a bit mysterious there, but not really, because we're still in E minor. All right, so we've started in A minor, we've gone to E minor. Right, what happens next? Well, let's look at this next little bit. So you can hear how this interchange between these quavers and semiquavers is going.

(06:30) These eighth notes and sixteenth notes. We're still in E minor, aren't we? So, actually, it's feeling quite stable, we're thinking okay, he started in A minor, now he's gone to E minor, maybe he's just going to hang around in E minor for quite a long time. And, E minor's the dominant of A minor, but E minor is the super tonic key of the original key of D major, so that's not too bad, is it? Okay, well let's see if he hangs around in E minor because the next thing is he does this.

Oh, A-sharp has crept in. So what are we doing now? We've arrived at the dominant chord in B minor. Hmm, that's interesting, isn't it, because B minor is the dominant of E minor where we've just been. So, now we've arrived in B minor. Hmm, okay, what happens next you think? Oh, E-sharp, and now we're really whistling off somewhere else.

Well, are we whistling off maybe to F-sharp minor or something, or is it just a chromatic lower auxiliary note or a lower neighbor tone, could. Yeah, I think possibly, and it's sort of feeling as if it's a chromatic decoration. Especially when we go on, E-natural. And then we get to a tonic chord in B minor.

So, you begin to see what he's doing, He's actually working around the circle of fifths. Having gone from that dominant major chord, A major, from the end of the exposition, parallel minor, A minor, if you go to the next minor key on the right of the circle of fifths, you know, A minor is on the circle of fifths, in the key signature, no sharps, no flats.

E minor is the next key round with one sharp. B minor is the next minor key round with two sharps. Ah, okay so we're beginning to see what he's doing is hopping to the dominant of the previous key, isn't he? All right, so we're getting the idea. So now we're thinking yeah, well, okay if he's gone A minor, E minor, B minor, well he's going to go to F-sharp minor next it's obvious, isn't it really? This is the genius of Mozart, of course, because as soon as something becomes obvious,

you can guarantee Mozart is going to throw us off the scent. Well, he arrives on the tonic chord of B minor, so we've had all this kind of, let's go to B minor, let's use the dominant chord, now he's kind of really come home to B minor, with this tonic chord, so by the time we're here, this, we're thinking yeah tonic chord.

Bit of a shock next, oh, "sf" on the second beat. That's a strange thing to do, isn't it? Draw attention to a weak beat, why's he doing that? Because there's a little bit of a harmonic shock. We get the B minor chord then we get this, oh! What's that then? Well, that's a G major chord.

Well, let's think about this for a moment. If we're in the key of B minor, well, okay, that's a chord VI, isn't it? So maybe we're just using chord VI in B minor, and then he's going to sort of find a way to have a perfect cadence in B minor or something. But the G major, was a slight surprise, we weren't expecting that.

But where does it go? Does it carry on in B minor? From the G major chord, oh, what's going on now? Oh, E-sharp, oh we had E-sharp before didn't we, and it was just a little chromatic decoration. Maybe it's a chromatic decoration again, but I don't think so, because it going E-sharp, G-sharp E-sharp, its leaping, it's not going by step anywhere, so it's probably saying this is something to do with the harmony.

So, if we've got B and E-sharp and G-sharp, well what's all that about? It's beginning to feel as if it might be hinting at some kind of dominant seventh maybe, in the key of F-sharp, and then what is going on in the rest of that bar; and then, ahh, we've arrived on the tonic chord of F-sharp minor, haven't we? Now, remember what we were saying a moment ago, this is kind of what we were starting to expect.

A minor, hop on a key to E minor, hop on a key to B minor, and now we're hopping on a key to F-sharp minor. But because that was just beginning to be a predictable possibility, Mozart kind of threw us off the scent by slamming in this G major chord and throwing a bit of an accent onto the second beat of the bar, thus kind of disturbing things.

But why did he use that G major chord? I mean we said at the time, well it's chord VI in B minor, so why shouldn't he? It's also a Neapolitan chord in F-sharp minor because the Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the flattened second degree. So if I'm in F-sharp minor, the second degree is F-sharp, sorry G-sharp, so if I flatten that by a semitone to G and then build a major chord on G, G major chord.

So you see what this is? It is chord VI in B minor it's also a Neapolitan in F-sharp minor. So the clever thing is, he's following this pattern around the circle of fifths going to F-sharp minor, but sort of makes it sound like oh, that's not quite what we were expecting to happen; cause we thought we were just going to get more of all this stuff we've had previously, that G major chord kind of jolted us, didn't it? Especially throwing the weight onto the second beat of that bar, of that measure.

But it turns out to be a Neapolitan in the key that we were expecting to go to. So you're thinking, aha nice little touch! But by the time we get here, we're in F-sharp minor. So in fact, you know, we've used quite a few keys haven't we, for a classical composer. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten bars, A minor, E minor, B minor, F-sharp minor.

Four keys in ten bars, that's going at it a bit really. In a later period, that wouldn't surprise us, but, hmm, quite a surprise at this point in the show. Now, we've got to F-sharp minor, so we're thinking okay, F-sharp minor's got three sharps, we've got the pattern, so what's the next thing that's going to happen? We're going to go into C-sharp minor next with four sharps because that's the next key round.

The first thing Mozart does is throw C-natural at us, that's the last thing we're expecting if we think we're on our way to C-sharp minor, and that's kind of Mozart saying, "No way José!" We've got a chord I in F-sharp minor, and then shock! Second beat of the bar again, he's doing that same kind of shock with the expectation of the meter.

So we get F-sharp minor, and then C-natural, and then we're thinking, well what's all this about? This chord here, you know, could it be some kind of V7 in the key of G? Or is it something else? Well, surprise surprise, it's something else. Because this could also be a II in the first inversion in E minor.

So he throws the C-natural we're not expecting, and then he comes down to this chord when we get to the last measure in this line, the last bar there. It's the dominant seven then, isn't it? So, we've gone from E minor, a chord II in the first inversion, to a dominant seventh in the key of E minor.

So, then we've got, there's a hint of a diminished seventh there in E minor, by the way, and then he's gone to E minor. Oh, no, so we're sort of backtracking a bit now, aren't we, you know, we're not going and carrying on this journey. We got as far as F-sharp minor with three sharps, and now we've kind of backtracked to E minor that's only got one sharp, so what's going on here? Remember, I just said a moment ago, at the end of this bar, the end of this measure, there's just a hint of diminished seventh,

so D-sharp, F-sharp, A, C, is a diminished seventh in the key of E minor. We haven't got the A, but you can miss out on the fifth of the diminished seventh without disturbing the sense of the chord. Then it goes onto the tonic of E minor. Okay, well then he hits us with another diminished seventh, so having kind of just slipped in a diminished seventh, without us particularly noticing, by kind of taking a V7 and then chucking that C-natural at it to make it a bit of a diminished seventh.

He then has another diminished seventh with this. But, which key are we in now? B-flat for heaven's sake! We're on the sharp side of the circle of fifths, and suddenly we have B-flat to contend with! So, what is this looking like? Well, that's a diminished chord, isn't it? It's E, G, B-flat.

Well, could it be a II in the first inversion, in the key of D minor, hmm? What are we doing in D minor? That's hopped the other side of the circle of fifths, the key with one flat. Well, it's a diminished seventh, all right, and he's doing a trick he's used before, and then suddenly, this becomes a dominant seventh in its last inversion, in the key of D.

Could be D major, could be D minor, but it's going to be D minor because then, a reminder of that diminished seventh thing again. So, starting with a dominant seventh, adding that minor ninth, you could say well, is that a dominant ninth? Yeah, you could do. But actually, we've sort of kissed goodbye to the previous kind of, bottom of the chord, and now we're feeling a diminished seventh.

And then, he goes on to the tonic chord in D minor. So, then you're thinking, well where's he going to go now? Because we've had this journey round the right-hand side of the circle of fifths, and now we're suddenly in this key on the left-hand side of the circle of fifths. One key to the left of the C major, A minor axis.

Well, what's he doing now? Notice, he's kind of changed in the musical design. We've had this idea, haven't we, of semiquavers, or sixteenth notes in one part, and these quavers or eighth notes in the other part, flicking over all the time. He's kind of started to change the rhythm a bit when he did this displacement of the second beats, we kind of lost the quavers or the eighth notes in favour of crotchet, quarter notes, there, you know, so there's a bit of development transformation going on.

And what happens when we get to this point? Well suddenly we're in D minor, so, you know, what's he doing there? Well it's I in first inversion, and then, you know, this is really a sort of VII in first inversion back to me, the dominant chord of D minor, and then we have a B-flat major chord. So you think oh, is this going to be another one of those Neapolitans or something? Actually, it's B-flat major first inversion, it's chord VI in D minor, and it goes back to the dominant, back to the VI.

Ah, but we've got a bit of sequence going on, haven't we? Ah, then there's a bit of a surprise, because what's all this about? Well, when we get this chord, we're thinking, F-sharp and C-natural? Doesn't feel like D minor anymore. It's feeling more like a sort of hint of a dominant seventh, or, yeah a VII in first immersion, in the key of G.

It turns out, in the next bar, the next measure, to go to a chord of G minor, ah that's interesting. D minor has got one flat, and G minor's got two flats. So you know we started that journey around the right-hand side of the circle of fifths? It looks like we're starting a journey around the left-hand side now.

Oh, so there's G minor, we hang around there for a while, but not for long because oh, F-natural, are we coming into say, B-flat major or something? No, we're kind of coming down the melodic minor scale of G minor. For now, we're thinking oh this E-flat major chord there, could that be a Neapolitan in something, who knows? Or are we just using an E-flat major chord there? And then he does this nice little turn, because you're thinking, heck, we're nearly at the end of this development section,

and the first subject when it comes back needs to be in the key of D. We're now messing about in G minor and now we're using an E-flat major chord, you know, chord VI in G minor, how on earth are we going to get back to D? Oh wow, well what Mozart does is this rather clever little touch, I like this one.

You've got this E-flat major chord, and then he allows the bass to come up chromatically, so E-flat comes up chromatically to this and you're thinking, oh, that's an interesting shift, what's this about? It's a diminished chord on G-sharp. Oh, what's that, it's possibly a chord VII in the key of A major.

Either a chord VII or a sort of implied V7 in A major. And then he goes on to this, so you'll suddenly find yourself with an A major chord. Well, we were in D minor, so is A major the dominant chord of D minor? Well, it certainly is, that's true. So, is that what's going on, or where are we going now? We've had this E-flat major, but we're not really sure, are we? And then, he kind of breaks ranks with the previous development section material, and he has this continuous run of semiquavers,

just this monophonic right hand, which is really our link from the end of the development, to the recapitulation. And he's just kind of running up and down the scales to take us back. Now, how does this work? Well, this A major chord, was in fact the dominant chord of the D minor we've kind of been messing about with, although we've been to D minor, G minor, what's going on? Effectively, he's shunted us into A major by using this chord here, with the B-natural and the G-sharp in it, so we feel as if

we've kind of moved into A major. But in fact, we've not really moved into A major, we've moved to the chord of A major. This G-sharp, B-natural, has made us feel key A major, but in fact, it's just that that's shoved us into the same major chord, in order that Mozart can use this A major chord as a chord V, in D major.

So when he comes back to the recapitulation, V then resolves to chord I. And we have this, which you can't really say is a cadenza, it's not really kind of, free enough to be a cadenza; but it's sort of a bit cadenza-like isn't it? You come to this moment and then have all this running around thing going on.

But it's a link, that's taking us back to, so, when we get there, we suddenly hear this major chord, and it's D major. And hey! We're back in the recapitulation, all the more so because we've spent the development section really, kind of dealing with minor keys, haven't we? And then when you hear that D major chord, everything kind of lights up because we're back in a major tonality.

But, isn't it clever, the way Mozart went through all of those keys in the way he's done it, and the clever touches of using a Neapolitan chord and then kind of keeping us guessing as to what might be happening here and there. How he's just kind of kept something quite simple going, like these alternating semiquavers and quavers, the sixteenth notes and the eighth notes. But then, we've had all this key movement going on, which miraculously leads us to this point, where we can come back to D major. I just think it's rather clever, isn't it? That you can have a compact development section, twenty bars, and explore musical ideas in a way that we might expect, but not over-exploring ideas.

There are so many ideas that we have stated in the exposition that is not explored here, so he's just sort of taking a sort of fairly minimalist approach to which ideas he's exploring. But he's made the modulation scheme really interesting, really compact, and therefore, made that development section a really exciting journey, though a whole load of keys before coming back and saying, don't worry about it folks, we're back in D major! And because we're then going to have a recapitulation

with the first subject in that key and the second subject doing some interesting stuff, but basically, it comes back in D major as well. Well, you know, we're going to have a fairly stable run of D major, lots of interesting chords, actually in the recapitulation. But, the modulations are really volatile in the development section because the recapitulation by its nature is going to be more stable and more fixed in D major, so that gives a really interesting balance to the piece.  But it's a kind of lesson in how to write a really successful short, compact development section that's entirely engaging because of what he's done with the modulation, the key movement. Well, I hope you've enjoyed that video, and if you have, please make a little visit to the Music Matters website, www.mmcourses.co.uk. If this kind of analysis engages you, and you really want to be able to think more analytically about the music that you're playing or to think about this can enhance what you're doing as a composer, or you just have to maybe study analysis for a music exam of some kind, go to courses on the website, just click on the bit that says courses on the homepage.

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