Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Integrating Schenkerian tools and an innovative approach to harmony, David Damschroder provides numerous penetrating analyses of works by Haydn and Mozart. A series of introductory chapters assist readers in developing their analytical capacity. Beginning with short excerpts from string quartets, the study proceeds by assessing the inner workings of twelve expositions from Haydn piano sonatas, six arias in G minor from Mozart operas, and three rondos in D major from piano concertos by Haydn and Mozart. In the Masterworks section that follows, Damschroder presents detailed analyses of six movements from symphonies, string quartets and opera by Haydn and Mozart, and compares his outcomes with those of other analysts, including Kofi Agawu, Robert O. Gjerdingen, James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, Carl Schachter and James Webster. The book represents an important contribution to modern analytical discourse on a treasured body of music and an assessment of recent accomplishments within that realm.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Part I Methodological Orientation
• 1 Harmonic practice in the late eighteenth century: twelve excerpts from string quartets
• 2 Anatomy of the I-II#-V two-part exposition: twelve keyboard sonatas
• 3 Composition in a minor key: six arias in G minor from operas
• 4 The happy ending: three sonata-rondos in D major from piano concertos
• Part II Masterpieces
• 5 Haydn: Symphony No. 45 in F# Minor ('Farewell'), movement 2: in response to James Webster
• 6 Haydn: String Quartet in G Minor (op. 20, no. 3), movement 3: in response to
• 7 Mozart: String Quintet in C Major (K. 515), movement 1: in response to Kofi
• 8 Mozart: Don Giovanni (K. 527), Act I, Scene 13: Donna Anna's Recitative and Aria: in response to Carl Schachter
• 9 Mozart: Symphony in G Minor (K. 550), movement 3, Trio: in response to
• 10 Haydn: Symphony No. 96 in D Major ('Miracle'), movement 1: in response to Warren Darcy
• Select bibliography
• Index of works
• Index of names and concepts

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In this highly specialized and uniquely reasoned book, Damschroder (Univ. of Minnesota) attempts to establish a logic for Haydn and Mozart's harmonic language. The author seeks a middle way between extreme Schenkerism and historically informed analysis--a humane Schenkerism, as it were--that is sorely needed. Without overtly referencing organicism, he usefully demonstrates the manner in which the implications of localized harmonic procedures become manifest in large-scale musical forms. Those who find Schenkerian analysis abstruse will not find Damschroder's additions to Schenkerian notation easy going. In addition, the author's approach to his harmonic analyses of development sections of sonata form movements--in which he explains very well the circle-of-fifths type modulation series that are commonly found--does not take into consideration the harmonic drive to the "point of furthest remove," as described by Leonard Ratner. One excellent feature of this book, however, is the author's clear delineation between his analyses and his reactions to other authors' analyses, the latter being printed in dark background. Works examined include Haydn's Symphonies 45 and 90 and String Quartet, Op. 20, No. 3, and Mozart's String Quintet, K. 515, Symphony No. 40, and Don Giovanni (excerpts). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. W. E. Grim Strayer University