Haydn's Missing Middles. Riley, M. Music Analysis, 30(1):37–57, 2011.
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Haydn's play on expectations and conventions and his deliberate grammatical mistakes are well-known. Yet one notable syntactic irregularity to be found in his music has been overlooked: the use of a sentential theme which lacks the first half of the continuation phrase (to use the terms of William E. Caplin's functional theory of Classical form). This type of theme moves straight from its presentation phrase to its cadential progression, so there is no pre-cadential section of the continuation phrase which expresses a specifically medial function. Moreover, the theme's dimensions are irregular: its second part is only half the length of its first. Most cases of the 'missing middle' occur in the main themes of sonata allegros, the middle being supplied later in the movement, usually in the subordinate theme. These points are illustrated by brief analyses of the first movements of Symphony No. 85 and the Sonata Hob. XVI:21, and a longer analysis of the first movement of the Sonata Hob. XVI:49. © 2011 The Author. Music Analysis © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
@Article{          riley2011-haydns,
    author       = {Riley, Matthew},
    year         = {2011},
    title        = {Haydn's Missing Middles},
    abstract     = {Haydn's play on expectations and conventions and his
                   deliberate grammatical mistakes are well-known. Yet one
                   notable syntactic irregularity to be found in his music
                   has been overlooked: the use of a sentential theme which
                   lacks the first half of the continuation phrase (to use
                   the terms of William E. Caplin's functional theory of
                   Classical form). This type of theme moves straight from
                   its presentation phrase to its cadential progression, so
                   there is no pre-cadential section of the continuation
                   phrase which expresses a specifically medial function.
                   Moreover, the theme's dimensions are irregular: its second
                   part is only half the length of its first. Most cases of
                   the 'missing middle' occur in the main themes of sonata
                   allegros, the middle being supplied later in the movement,
                   usually in the subordinate theme. These points are
                   illustrated by brief analyses of the first movements of
                   Symphony No. 85 and the Sonata Hob. XVI:21, and a longer
                   analysis of the first movement of the Sonata Hob. XVI:49.
                   {\textcopyright} 2011 The Author. Music Analysis
                   {\textcopyright} 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.},
    doi          = {10.1111/j.1468-2249.2011.00309.x},
    issn         = {02625245},
    journal      = {Music Analysis},
    keywords     = {music analysis},
    mendeley-tags= {music analysis},
    number       = {1},
    pages        = {37--57},
    volume       = {30}
}

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