A Slur in Mozart’s K.333
Posted: 29 Dec 2024, 17:07
The following scale passage appears in Mozart’s manuscript copy of last movement of the piano sonata K. 333:
A. Why did Mozart beam the scale passage in two parts? Was this simply a lack of space?
B. Why is only the first part slurred?
C. Why do the slur and beam break at the passing tone C instead of a chord tone?
I believe that the notation is significant because it brings out an inner melody within the passage, as seen in the following diagram: Interpretation
!. The passage outlines the melodic progression: F-B flat-D-F within a 6/4 chord.
2. The slur outlines the passing motion between the F and B flat and links the B flat to the following passing note C to create a two-note motive B flat-C.
3. The beam breaks to show the significance of the D within the melodic progression which is lead to the passing note E flat, creating the motive D-E flat, a transposed repetition of the two-note motive B flat-C, and then to the final goal note F, which is the pitch the passage started on, three octaves below.
4. The final part of the passage is un-slurred, possibly to indicate a more brilliant, detached playing of the ending.
{Edit} The following diagram makes the voice leading clearer. Note that the D in measure 3 could be viewed as an essential tone in the overall melody, which would explain Mozart's desire to highlight the note by breaking the beam before it:
However, after the first edition, many editors have extended the slur and beam by one note and made other changes to the passage: Extending the slur to the D simplifies the melody to place much greater emphasis on the passing note E flat: Slurring and beaming the whole passage as one unit does away with all melodic or motivic play: I leave it to the reader to decide between the interpretations.
The first edition attempted to follow Mozart’s notation but had to split the scale passage and slur between the two systems:
The questions facing an editor are A. Why did Mozart beam the scale passage in two parts? Was this simply a lack of space?
B. Why is only the first part slurred?
C. Why do the slur and beam break at the passing tone C instead of a chord tone?
I believe that the notation is significant because it brings out an inner melody within the passage, as seen in the following diagram: Interpretation
!. The passage outlines the melodic progression: F-B flat-D-F within a 6/4 chord.
2. The slur outlines the passing motion between the F and B flat and links the B flat to the following passing note C to create a two-note motive B flat-C.
3. The beam breaks to show the significance of the D within the melodic progression which is lead to the passing note E flat, creating the motive D-E flat, a transposed repetition of the two-note motive B flat-C, and then to the final goal note F, which is the pitch the passage started on, three octaves below.
4. The final part of the passage is un-slurred, possibly to indicate a more brilliant, detached playing of the ending.
{Edit} The following diagram makes the voice leading clearer. Note that the D in measure 3 could be viewed as an essential tone in the overall melody, which would explain Mozart's desire to highlight the note by breaking the beam before it:
However, after the first edition, many editors have extended the slur and beam by one note and made other changes to the passage: Extending the slur to the D simplifies the melody to place much greater emphasis on the passing note E flat: Slurring and beaming the whole passage as one unit does away with all melodic or motivic play: I leave it to the reader to decide between the interpretations.