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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000075.txt from 2004/04
From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: [DR-L] RE: Mozart (Bassoon) Question
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 18:13:16 -0400
James Jeter wrote:
<<<To the musicologists (closet or otherwise!) on the list, I have a
question about a single 32nd note in Mozart's Symphony Nr. 40 (g minor).
In the 2nd movement (andante) in measure 101 (or 2 measures after Letter
F), on the 3rd beat (of 6), 2nd pair of 32nd notes, my Kalmus 1st
bassoon part has a D-flat slurred to C natural. The C natural is clearly
dissonant and sounds wrong - also when the flute plays the same passage
later, there's definitely NOT a dissonance involved. The conductor
looked at his score and told me the score is definitely a C natural, but
I'm wondering if this is really an OLD misprint, and the note should be
a C-flat (this C-flat 32nd is used in measure 103, and sounds
correct.)>>>
Jim, I'll have a go at this question, so long as I don't have to be
mistaken for a musicologist! (There's probably little chance of that.)
In measure 101, the prevailing harmony is Db major, even though there is
a Gb rearticulated suspension in the viola part which does not resolve
until the 4th eighth note. The bassoon part at that point correctly
outlines the Db major scale, which would seem to be appropriate for the
harmony.
In the next measure, 102, the harmony has changed to Ab minor, so the Cb
is needed in order not to conflict with the 3rd of the chord.
In measure 103, by the time the woodwinds get the Cb on the 5th beat,
the underlying chord is Eb minor. So the Cb is essentially an
appoggiatura, and it resolves, as it should, to the Bb, which is the 5th
of the chord.
You are right in a sense, because the C in measure 101 is only a
semitone removed from a member of the chord, and this isn't too common
in Mozart as far as I can recall. However, I have played this symphony
several times, and have heard it many more times. I'm used to the sound
of the C natural, so it doesn't grate on my ears at all. I would
recommend enjoying the dissonance!
Ed Lacy
University of Evansville
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