There are two kinds of self-referential aspects in Mozart's piano concertos: reminiscences of or allusions to specific works, and generic references to characteristic styles. It is easy to assume that Mozart frequently borrowed specifically from his opere buffe in his piano concertos, based on fortuitous similarities. However, the contribution of buffa in Mozart's piano concerto writing is mainly in its procedure, the most prominent effect being the achievement of closure. For example, the buffa gesture of repetitive cadences serves as a function of syntax when transposed to classical concerto style, reaffirming the tonic for a convincing closure and serving as a climax of rhythmic motive developing throughout the movement. Another "buffa echo" is the coda itself. The introduction of new materials, a quickened pulse and layering voices parallels the buffa finale. It is the interplay of solo and orchestra in the concerto that allows the dramatic operatic device to be incorporated.

Works: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat Major, K. 449 (76-85), Piano Concerto No. 15 in B-flat Major, K. 450 (86, 88), Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, K. 459 (94-97), Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453 (98, 100), Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Major, K. 466 (99, 101).

Sources: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, "Terzetto" (II, 13) (76), "Susanna or via sortite" (78, 80-81), and "Aprite un po' quegli occhi" (86-89), Don Giovanni, "Ho, Capito" (89-93).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Before composing Carmen, Bizet had already shown strong interest in Spanish music. His adaptation of Spanish music in his opera Don Quichotte and symphonic ode Vasco de Gama is evident. The experience of a school-day friendship with Pablo Sarasate provided him an easy channel to Spanish sources. In Carmen, Bizet borrowed genuine Spanish folksongs, local rhythms, and tunes composed by Spanish composers Sebastián Yradier and Manuel Garcia. The pieces of Spanish origin in Carmen include the famous "Habañera"; Carmen's aria "Séguidille, séguidille, séguidilla," and "Choeur des gamins" in Act I; Carmen's aria "Chanson bohème," and "Toreador Song" in Act II; and both of the preludes to Act III and IV. The most interesting borrowing is Carmen's leitmotif, the Fate theme, which is used repeatedly throughout the opera in two patterns, one for Carmen, and the other for Don José. This theme is derived from an Andalusian Saeta (flamenco music). Bizet's familiarity with authentic Spanish music is underestimated, and the extent of Spanish influence on the score of Carmen is more complex than usually recognized.

Works: Bizet: Carmen.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Many of Chopin’s contemporaries, who heard him play, documented the uniqueness of his pianism. Soon after his death, admirers and students debated “the true style” of Chopin. Although we do not have an actual aural record of Chopin’s performance, we can catch a glimpse of it through a few contemporaries who imitated his style in their written compositions, which provide a fascinating document of Chopin’s unwritten improvisation. Aspects of Chopin’s phrasing, melodic inflection, articulation, and treatment of fiorature are imitated in these works. Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s Ricordati of 1855-1856, designated a nocturne, incorporates Chopin’s rhetorical phrasing and indicates such appropriate places with written instructions such as piangendo, con lagrime, parlando, con amore, and others. In his Nocturne from Op. 21, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann imitates Chopin's bel canto style. Moreover, in a version of the Nocturne included in his 1840 piano treatise Encyclopédie du pianiste compositeur, Zimmermann added a third staff of a Chopinesque fioriture as an example of realizing ornamentation on original melody. Edouard Wolff captures elements Chopin’s improvisatory technique in the arpeggiated passages in his Hommage à Chopin of 1852, also designated a “Reverie-Nocturne.” Chopin’s imitators also notated Chopinesque articulations, especially the gradations between staccato and full legato. In their eyes, Chopin’s written compositions are reflections and echoes of his improvisation.

Works: Gottschalk: Ricordati (153-54); Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman: Nocturne from 24 Etudees, Op. 21 (155-56), L’Encyclopèdie du pianist compositeur (157-58); Edouard Wolff: Romance, Op. 11, No. 1 (155-57), Hommage à Chopin, Op. 169 (157-59).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

In the works of Johannes Brahms, the use of musical allusions as a compositional procedure is most pronounced in his private genres of song and chamber music. Alte Liebe (1876) is a fascinating example of using musical allusion to create a personal connection between words and music, to reveal the composer's private thoughts, and to stir the memory of a particular audience, Clara Schumann in this case. Brahms incorporated in the song a six-note melodic segment from a solo piano piece in F-sharp minor that he had presented to Clara five years earlier (later revised and published as Capriccio, Op. 76, No.1). He then asked Julius Stockhausen to sing it to Clara, together with another song (Unüberwindlich), designating her to be the "best to hear them." Unüberwindlich, on Goethe's text describing a drunken man and his lost love, also incorporates an allusion, a literal quotation of the opening of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonata in D major, K. 223. The two songs represent opposite sides of the same coin: one private and melancholically nostalgic and the other public and self-mockingly humorous. Seen from the same light, the former represents a female protagonist, while the latter a male. Both songs parallel recurrences of borrowed melodic segments with resurgences of old Romantic feelings.

Works: Brahms: Alte Liebe, Op. 72, No. 1 (79-111), Unüberwindlich, Op. 72, No. 5 (81-89, 101-6).

Sources: Brahms: Capriccio in F-sharp Minor, Op. 76, No.1 (72-81, 84-85, 88-89, 95-101, 104-11); Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K. 223 (81-82, 101-4).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

It is widely believed that C. P. E. Bach asserted great stylistic influence on Joseph Haydn, especially in his keyboard compositions. A large amount of the twentieth-century musicological literature on Haydn deals with the similarities and parallels found in the works of the two composers; however, many of the analytical conclusions are unconvincing. This ingrained view of influence is a result of the misrepresentation of a Bach-Haydn relationship in the earliest Haydn biography and journalistic documents, documents that were circulated during Haydn’s life time and soon after his death. Subsequently, these writings affected the interpretations of Haydn’s musical development by later historians and musicians. However, a careful reconstruction of the chronology of Haydn’s works and a close study of the historical evidence reveal that C. P. E. Bach’s influence is most pronounced through one work: Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen. In particular, Bach’s influence is seen in the instructions on how to write a “free fantasia.”

Works: Joseph Haydn: Capriccio in G Major “Acht Sauschneider müssen seyn,” Hob. XVII:1 (222-25), Capriccio from String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No. 2, Hob. III:32 (225), Capriccio from Symphony in D Major, Hob. I:86 (226), Fantasia in C Major, Hob. XVII:4 (226-27), Fantasia from String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 2, Hob. III:80 (228), “Chaos” from The Creation Hob. XXI:2 (228-29).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

The chaconnes in Bach's unaccompanied Violin Partita in D minor, Beethoven's Thirty-Two Variations in C minor for piano, and the finale of Brahms's Symphony No. 4 in E minor are similar in many respects. Bach's Partita was not published until twenty years after Beethoven's death, thus it was impossible for Beethoven to have known Bach's work. Brahms, on the other hand, having transcribed the Bach chaconne for piano left hand and practiced Beethoven's Thirty-two Variations, borrowed the themes from both Bach and Beethoven and incorporated them in the finale of his Symphony No. 4. A comparison of the treatment of meter, accents, harmonic structure, rhythmic movements, paired variations, ostinato, tetrachord, rondo form, contrapuntal devices, and sequences well illustrates the differences and similarities among the three composers in applying the old Baroque chaconne form, and the various degree of departure they made from the tradition.

Works: Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (69-72).

Sources: J. S. Bach: Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 (64-66); Beethoven: Thirty-Two Variations on an Original Theme in C Minor for Piano, WoO 80 (67-69).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

In nine of his piano concertos, K. 271, 413 (387a), 415 (387b), 450, 466, 467, 482, 491, and 503, Mozart used the vocal device "fermata sospesa" for the piano entrance after the first ritornello. Mozart was acquainted with this device in 1768 through J. C. Bach's aria "Cara, la dolce fiamma" in the opera Adriano in Siria, as well as various treatises of Agricola, Tosi, and C. P. E. Bach. Evidences show that before 1777, Mozart had written different elaborations on the opening "fermata sospesa" of J. C. Bach's aria as exercises. Examining the details of the "fermata sospesa" in these nine concertos illuminates the process of evolution in the usage of this device and the deviations from its vocal practice. These deviations and this development involve matters of length, harmonic design, treatment of the orchestra, and the recurrence of thematic elements from the "fermata sospesa" at other places in the piece. Mozart's "fermata sospesa" in K. 413, 415, 450 and 466 involve borrowing of musical materials from C. P. E. Bach and J. C. Bach; K. 467, 482 and 503 involve self-borrowing from his other piano concertos.

Works: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271 (157-58, 160), Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413 (157-59, 160), Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415 (158-59, 160), Piano Concerto No. 15 in B-flat Major, K. 450 (157-58, 160), Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466 (158-59, 160), Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 (158, 161), Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat Major, K. 482 (159, 161), Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491 (158-59, 161), Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503 (159-61).

Sources: C. P. E. Bach: Trio in B-flat Major, H. 584/ii (160); J. C. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in C Major, Op. 1 No. 5/i (160), "Cara, la dolce fiamma" from Adriano in Siria (160), Keyboard Concerto in D Major, Op. 13 No. 2/iii (161); Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Major, K. 482/i (161), Piano Concerto No. 16 in D Major, K. 451/i (161).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Musical “invention,” a term borrowed from classical rhetoric, signifies a mental process that precedes the act of composing. It entails the “invention of ideas” (die Erfindung der Gedanken). The concept and application of such an invention are best perceived in the process of the ritornello principle, in which the initial idea plays a prominent role in the elaboration of the work as a whole. J. S. Bach’s ritornellos from the Allegro movements of his concertos are modeled after Vivaldi’s, especially those of Op. 3. However, Bach elaborated certain procedures of his model and made his ritornellos into a system for working out his “inventions.” Most characteristically, Bach’s ritornello falls into three sections: the Vordersatz (opening statement), the Fortspinnung (spinning out), and the Epilog (ending phrase). His ritornello procedure does not rely on tutti-solo contrast; rather, it is characterized by rearranging and transforming these three distinct sections from discrete sets of motives into thematic material with specific harmonic functions.

Works: Johann Sebastian Bach: Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042 (331-36), Oboe Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059R (336-42), Concerto for Four Harpsichords in A Minor, BWV 1065 (343-36), Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 (346-50), “Overture in the French Style,” BWV 831, from Clavier-Übung II (350-56).

Sources: Vivaldi: Concerto for Four Violins in B Minor, Op. 3, No. 10 (343-46).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Chopin’s Etudes—Op. 10, Op. 25, and the three Nouvelles etudes—are a unique synthesis of musical style and performance technique, and they are examples of the genre in its pristine form. Music critics since Chopin's day have recognized a certain intuitiveness and ingenuity of these works in terms of both musical conception and keyboard technique that cannot be adequately explained by invoking antecedents. However, one can trace a variety of precedents for the musical and technical features of Chopin’s etudes by comparing examples from a group of didactic and non-didactic works. Chopin’s detailed harmonic structures and elaborate chromatic embroidery also point to a strong connection to J. S. Bach. In particular, Bach’s influence on Chopin’s harmonic language is best demonstrated in the contrapuntal tension between the linear, horizontal aspects of the piano figures and the underlying harmonic ground-work that is characteristic of Chopin’s etudes.

Works: Chopin: Etude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 10, No. 4 (54), Etude in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 11 (55), Prelude in F-sharp Minor, Op. 28, No. 8 (62), Etude in C Major, Op. 10, No. 1 (62-65, 69-71), Etude No. 3 from Nouvelles etudes (66-67), Etude in F Major, Op. 10, No. 8 (67-68), Etude in A-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 10 (68-69), Etude in E-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 6 (71-74), Etude in F Major, Op. 25, No. 3 (74-76).

Sources: Hummel: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 85 (54), Etude in C Major, Op. 125, No. 1 (63-65); Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26 (55), Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 (55); J. B. Cramer: 84 Studies (55, 61-62); John Field: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A-flat Major (55); Kalkbrenner: Etude in E-flat Major, Op. 20, No. 7 (55): Ludwig Berger: Etude in C Major, Op. 12, No. 1 (63-65); J. C. Kessler: Etude in C Major, Op. 20, No. 1 (63-65); Moscheles: Etude No. 9 in A-flat Major, from Studies for the Perfection of Already Advanced Players, Op. 70 (66-67); Maria Szymanowska: 20 Exercises and Preludes (67-68); J. H. Müller: Preludes and Exercises (68-69); Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude in C Major, BWV 846, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (69-71).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Puccini's musical borrowing from Verdi can be best understood through an analogy to the "mirror image" from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. The mirror image of Verdi's Don Carlos (1867, 1884) appears in Puccini's one-act opera Suor Angelica (1918), on the levels of characterization, declamation, timbre, tonality, and dramatic syntax. A comparison between the scenes of La Zia Principessa and Angelica in Suor Angelica and Philip and the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos illuminates Puccini's imitation, modeling, and recomposition techniques. Puccini's female-dominant characterization contrasts to Verdi's more "masculine" cast. Puccini used Verdi as a model for the dramatic relationship between the characters, atmosphere, action, particular arrangement of scenery, monologue, dark vocal sonorities, and tonal development. The greatest similarities are in the middle sections of the two scenes when the characters explore their most intimate desires both musically and dramatically. Puccini's scene can be seen as a reincarnation and a contrafactum of Verdi's. Like his contemporaries Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Bartók, Puccini struggled with ways to "remake the past" as he experienced conflict with his own musical lineage.

Works: Puccini: Suor Angelica.

Sources: Verdi: Don Carlos.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

A web of influence and borrowing exerted itself in the friendships between Edvard Grieg, Frederick Delius, and Percy Grainger. Grieg's Norwegian folksong settings served as models for Grainger's own folksong arrangements, and specific musical quotations exist in Delius's On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, a meditation on Grieg's "I Ola Dalom." Delius quotes the melody from Grieg's setting, but was also influenced by his textures, harmonic structure, free variation, and development. It has also been noted that Delius's composition has a resemblance to Grieg's "The Students' Serenade" from Moods, Op. 73, No. 6. Furthermore, the interval of a descending minor third from leading tone to dominant is borrowed from Grieg. This melodic interval resembles a cuckoo call and was likely to have prompted Delius to use Grieg's setting as a model from which to draw.

Works: Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (13, 15-19).

Sources: Grieg: Norwegian Folk Songs, Op. 66: "Je gaar I tusind tanker" (12),"I Ola Dalom (12-18), Moods, Op. 73, No. 6, "The Student's Serenade" (17-18).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Christopher Holmes, Tong Cheng Blackburn

Originality is considered among the most essential qualities in the age of Enlightenment. It is especially difficult to attain in music, an entirely imitative art, and music plagiarism is seen in both young composers struggling to pass mediocrity as well as great composers. The measure of their offenses often increases in proportion with their experience and reputation. There are composers guilty of "musical felony" such as Corelli and Handel. Handel's adaptations of pre-existing music have been noted by historians, but none have accused Handel of plagiarism. Boyce, Mozart, Clementi, and Rossini have all committed different degrees of "petty larcenies." The act of musical plagiarism must be brought to light in order to warn young composers and encourage them to create styles of their own.

Index Classifications: 1600s, 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

A group of fugue arrangements for string trios and quartets, known as K. 405 and K. 404a by Mozart, and the anonymous arrangements of the Berea/"Kaisersammlung" manuscript are based on the fugues from J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. The authorship of these arrangements, along with some of their anonymous slow introductions, has always been in question. A historical investigation indicates that Mozart is the most probable author. Around 1782, Mozart regularly attended Baron Gottfried Van Swieten's Sunday chamber music sessions, in which only Handel's and Bach's music were performed. Mozart arranged Bach's fugues for these events. It was also around that time that Mozart studied Bach's fugues with enthusiasm. Mozart is also known for adding slow introductions to arrangements of his own compositions; examples include the piano fugue K. 426, later arranged for strings (K. 546), and many other works. Further studies of the manuscript copy, musical style, texture, and harmonic language make even a stronger case for Mozart's authorship. Mozart's involvement in these pieces cannot be denied until another composer is proven to be the author.

Works: Mozart: Five Fugues K. 405 (44, 46-47, 50-53), Four Preludes for String Trios K. 404a (44, 46-57, 62-65), Berea/"Kaisersammlung" manuscript (47-57, 60-63).

Sources: J. S. Bach: Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, in C Minor (44, 47), D Major (44, 46, 51), E flat Major (44, 46, 52, 53), D sharp Minor (44, 50, 51), and E Major (44, 52).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Brahms uses musical “allusions” in his symphonies to serve two utopia agendas: first, to achieve a pure and organic unity ideal of “absolute music”; second, to revitalize a languishing tradition through multiple allusive sources, thus creating referential meanings that are not devoid of the narrative dimensions or programmatic intentions of the “New German School.” These two agendas, or two “senses of belonging,” are interrelated. Brahms uses a single technique, thematic variation, as the agent of synthesis for two separate frames of reference in order to create referential meaning within a work and at the same time to establish relationships other works within the extended tradition. Brahms achieves organic unity by accommodating allusions to internal process, mainly by manipulating a network of thematic relationships from his allusive sources. Examples from Brahms's symphonies show the different ways he engages his allusive sources to acquire important meanings in a new unified musical context. In all his allusions, Brahms triggers in us the unconscious process of association with well-known music and guides us to feel our response to a shared heritage.

Works: Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 (139-59), Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 (159-69), Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (169-78), Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 (178-89).

Sources: Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 97 in C Major, Hob.I:97 (141-43); Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (“Eroica”) (141-44, 152-53, 181-85), Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (159-69), Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (159-69), Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (167-73); Schubert: Quintet in C Major, D.956 (141), Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D.944 (“Great”) (182-85); Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 (141), Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 97 (“Rhenish”) (141); Wagner: Tannhäuser (140-151, 154-59); Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 (141); Mendelssohn: Ein Sommernachtstraum, Op. 61 (182-88).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Haydn's Symphony No. 26 in D minor--the Sinfonia Lamentatione--was not composed for the Nativity, as a title given later, the "Christmas Symphony," falsely indicates. The title 'Passio et Lamentatio' on the oldest manuscript (at the Abbey of Herzogenburg) shows that the work was composed for the Easter week of 1766. For the first movement, Haydn took as a model an old drama of Passion music whose "Christus" motif is in turn based on an ancient Lamentation chant. This "Christus" melody from Passion music occurs in the second subject of the first movement exposition, given to the second violin and the first oboe. The second movement is thematically linked to the first by using the same "Christus" Lamentation chant, also in the second violin and the first oboe, this time as the principal subject in the form of a chorale prelude. The Passion music that Haydn used in this symphony was well known to his audience, and the purpose of the symphony must have been apparent.

Works: Haydn: Symphony No. 26 in D Minor, Sinfonia Lamentatione (287-93).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

J. C. Bach was one of the very few composers Mozart greatly admired. His keyboard concertos opp. 1, 7, and 13 influenced Mozart's piano concertos in the following areas: structural principles of the first movement including the use and expansion of ritornellos and solo sections; the use of wind instruments; the cantabile melodic style of the slow movement; and the use of Minuet or dance, Rondo, or Variation forms in the last movement. Op. 7 particularly sets a model for the newly developed concerto form.

Works: Mozart: Piano Concerto No.6 in B-flat Major, K. 238 (62, 64), Piano Concerto No. 8 in C Major, K. 246 (62-63), Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271 (61-65, 71-72), Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413 (64), Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453 (66), Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491 (66).

Sources: J. C. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in G Major, Op. 1, No. 4 (60-61), Keyboard Concerto in D Major, Op. 1, No. 6 (60-61, 64, 73), Keyboard Concerto in E-flat Major, Op. 7, No. 5 (62-66, 70-72), Keyboard Concerto in D Major, Op. 13, No. 2 (67, 70-71, 73), Keyboard Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 13, No. 4 (67, 72-73), Keyboard Concerto in E-flat Major, Op. 13, No. 6 (66, 73).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

A recent study of the manuscript of Telemann's Flute Concerto, Kross Fl. G1 (TWV51:G2) in G major, reveals that the bass part does survive. This discovery allows a reconstruction of the piece. The headings on two solo part copies indicate that the concerto was intended for either oboe or flute solo. These findings make a more significant discovery: J. S. Bach borrowed literally the first three measures of Telemann's opening Largo to the beginning of the slow movement of his Keyboard Concerto in A-flat major, BWV 1056. More studies show that Bach borrowed this musical material prior to the Keyboard Concerto, namely in a D minor Oboe Concerto, and the opening Sinfonia to his Cantata of 1729, Ich steh mit einem Fuss in Grabe, BWV 156.

Works: J. S. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in A-flat Major, BWV 1056/ii (45).

Sources: Telemann: Flute Concerto in G Major, TWV 51: G2 (Kross Fl. G 1) (45).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Muzio Clementi’s preoccupation with writing keyboard music for virtuosic display was only a passing phase in his long creative life. More characteristically, many of his piano compositions reveal the profound influence of J. S. Bach. Clementi’s fugal movement from the first Sonata of his Op. 5 draws harmonic, melodic, and stylistic materials from both the Prelude and the Fugue in B-flat minor from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I. The opening slow movement of Clementi’s Op. 34, No. 2, also shows Bach’s influence through its dramatic escalation of harmonic complexities and contrapuntal technique. Bach’s influence is further attested by Clementi's possession of the autograph of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (the so-called “London Autograph”). It was this influence that led Clementi's contemporary critics to recognize the “German manner” of his music.

Works: Clementi: Sonata in C Major, Op. 2, No. 2 (304-6), Toccata, Op. 11 (308-11), Sonata in F Minor, Op. 13, No. 6 (314-21), Sonata in G Minor, Op. 34, No. 2 (319, 322-23), Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 5, No. 1 (323-29).

Sources: Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata, K. 133 (313); Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Minor, BWV 867, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (323-29).

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Mozart's arrangement of Handel's Messiah in 1789 is not a "joyless labor in which Mozart invested a minimum of artistic efforts" as many scholars perceive it. After being commissioned by Baron Gottfried van Swieten, Mozart worked on the arrangement based on the first edition of Handel's score published by Randall and Abell. Mozart's changes fall into four categories: cuts and substitutions; changes of orchestration; addition and alteration of performance indications; and others. Most extensive and significant are the alterations made in orchestration. Mozart minimizes the juxtaposition of soloist and orchestra of the concerto-like dialogue in Handel; alters Handel's inflections by emphasizing important cadences in order to clarify the structure; and adds dynamic markings, bowings, articulations, trills, and tempo changes. All these alterations indicate an underlying logic of Mozart's artistic intention: to transform the outdated style of Baroque music and its performance practice into the musical language of his time in order to suit the taste of the late-eighteenth-century audience.

Works: Mozart: Arrangement of Handel's Messiah K. 572 (132-36, 140-46).

Sources: Handel: Messiah (137-39).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Denis Forman's claim that J. C. Bach transferred certain stylistic devices of opera to his piano concertos is an uncritical assumption. In his study of Mozart piano concertos, Forman argues that the virtuosic solo passage which occurs at the end of the first solo section--the "piano climax"--is essentially a musical device particular to da capo aria, conceived and developed in opera first and transferred to concerto later. He believes that this transfer was first made by J. C. Bach, in two of his concertos published in 1763, which subsequently influenced young Mozart. A study of the keyboard concertos of C. P. E. Bach shows that he used a similar kind of cadential passage as early as the 1720s, under the influence of J. S. Bach and contemporary Italian opera composers. Transferring musical devices from one genre to another is an oversimplified theory. Knowing that J. C. Bach studied with C. P. E. Bach, it is equally unlikely that J. C. Bach discovered the "piano climax" in the aria and simply transferred it to an instrumental genre.

Works: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503 (245-52), "Se il tuo duol" from Idomeneo (253-54); J. C. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1 (255-56), Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, Op. 1, No. 2 (257-58, 260-61), "Trafiggero quell core" from Allesandro nell'Indie (259); Vivaldi: Concerto in G Minor, Op. 4, No. 6 (263-65); C. P. E. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in E-flat Major, H. 404 /Wq. 2 (264-67), Keyboard Concerto in B-flat Major, H. 413/Wq. 10 (267-68); Hasse: "Corre al cimento ardita" from Armino (267-69); C. P. E. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in A Major, H. 411/Wq. 8 (270-71), Keyboard Concerto in C Minor, H. 441/Wq. 31 (273-75).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

In the process of reconstructing an outline of the evolution of Mendelssohn’s Six Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35, from independent fugues to a cyclic collection of preludes and fugues, the issues of influence and genre surface. The influence of J. S. Bach (especially his Well-Tempered Clavier), Beethoven, and the nineteenth-century virtuosic pianism of Thalberg is apparent. Mendelssohn’s decision to change the title for Op. 35 from “Etudes and Fugues” to “Preludes and Fugues” further illustrates both the influence of Bach and the nineteenth-century virtuoso in Mendelssohn’s compositional process. Moreover, a close study of the fugue in E Minor from Op. 35, No. 1, reveals the programmatic implication of “struggle,” an extramusical meaning often applied to fugues in the nineteenth century.

Works: Felix Mendelssohn: Prelude and Fugue in D major, Op. 35, No. 2 (172), Prelude and Fugue in A-flat major, Op. 35, No. 4 (173).

Sources: J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 850 (172); Beethoven: Piano Sonata in A-flat, Op. 110 (173).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 "Lobgesang" is a ceremonial work composed for the 400th anniversary celebration of Gutenberg's invention of moveable type. It is a mixture of vocal and instrumental music, a fusion of different forms and textures of cantata, oratorio, opera and symphony. In the past, it suffered unjust criticism as a result of incorrect comparison to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. A general resemblance to Beethoven's Ninth, as well as the nineteenth-century anxiety toward the work, points to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as Mendelssohn's paradigm. But the real models for Mendelssohn are the cantatas and passions of Bach, and the anthems and oratorios of Handel. The "Lobgesang" consists of two parts: the instrumental part, labeled as "Sinfonia," succeeded by a cantata. The cantata contains a diversity of styles. A closer examination of the aria "Stricke des Todes hatten uns umfangen" from No. 6, the so-called "Watchman scene," shows how Mendelssohn uses sonata principle to serve as an essential part of the drama and in total compliance to the text. In the chorus "Die Nacht ist vergangen" from the same number, Mendelssohn uses a mixture of homophonic and fugal writing; the climax is reached through repetition, elaboration, and variation of thematic materials, producing a coherent form.

Works: Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2, Op. 52, Lobgesang.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

The imprint of J. S. Bach has long been widely recognized in Chopin's music, especially in his etudes and preludes. A close structural study and comparison of Chopin's Etudes Op. 10, No. 1 in C Major and Op. 25, No. 12 in C minor with Bach's preludes in the same keys from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier demonstrate a profound level of resemblances in their long-range harmonic structure. Such a structure has its foundation in "the rule of the octave," an eighteenth-century method for harmonizing each note in a descending octave bass progression. The two etudes discussed not only reveal Chopin's deep knowledge of and interest in Bach's music, but also illuminate an underlying continuous compositional practice from the eighteenth century to early nineteenth century.

Works: Chopin: Etude, Op. 10, No. 1 (103-4, 108-14, 117-19), Etude, Op. 25, No. 12 (113-19).

Sources: J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude in C Major, BWV 846 (103-6, 113, 117-19), Prelude in C Minor, BWV 847 (106-8, 113-19).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn

Schubert's Wiegenlied in A-flat major, D. 498, set to an anonymous poem, became the musical material for borrowing in two twentieth-century operas: "Töne, töne, süsse Stimme" in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, op. 60, and "Gently, little boat, across the ocean float" in Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. Both Strauss and Stravinsky quoted the first measure of Schubert's lullaby. The quotation can be seen as a "double reminiscence": three lullabies and two mythological operas. The borrowings include musical, poetic, and dramatic elements. The anonymous poem of Schubert's Wiegenlied implies that the child is perhaps dead, but his mother's love remains with him and protects him even after death; and he will receive a rose when he "wakes." This theme has close association with the texts of Strauss's and Stravinsky's lullabies, as both deal with death, transformation, immortality and the love of a woman who embodies utmost fidelity. Strauss not only borrowed the melody from Schubert, he also borrowed the Schubertian harmonic style. Stravinsky's borrowing is more remote. Neither Strauss nor Stravinsky ever mentioned these borrowings.

Works: Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos, "Töne, töne, süsse Stimme" (35-41); Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress, "Gently, little boat, across the ocean float" (41-47).

Sources: Schubert: Wiegenlied in A-flat Major, D. 498 (35-47).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Tong Cheng Blackburn