Homotonal
Encyclopedia
Homotonal is a technical musical term pertaining to the tonal
structure of multi-movement compositions. It was introduced into musicology
by Hans Keller
. According to Keller's definition and usage, a multi-movement composition is 'homotonal' if all of its movements have the same tonic
(keynote).
'Homotonality' is by no means uncommon in compositions of the Baroque era: many Baroque multi-movement works based on dance-forms manifest the same tonic—and even the same mode -- throughout. Thus, for example, J.S.Bach
's solo violin partita BWV 1004 is homotonal [all movements in D minor], as is his solo flute partita BWV 1013 [all movements in A minor]. Similarly, Vivaldi's sonata for oboe and continuo RV53 (n.d.) is homotonal [all movements in C minor]. Homotonality is even encountered in some Baroque concertos: examples include Vivaldi's Cello Concertos RV401 (n.d.) [all movements in C minor] and RV416 (n.d.) [all movements in G minor], and Jean-Marie Leclair
's Violin Concerto Op.7 No 1 (1737) [all movements in D minor].
With the Classical era, however, the situation changes. Outside of two-movement works (which, classically speaking, will maintain the same tonic for both movements and will thus be homotonal by definition), classical-era homotonality is relatively rare: a classical work in three movements will normally move to a different tonic for its middle movement, and a classical work in four movements will normally have at least one of its middle movements in a key other than the original tonic.
The classical composer most closely associated with the homotonal principle is Joseph Haydn
.
Keller himself was keen to emphasise that different classical composers showed differing degrees of interest in homotonal structure:
Musicological reactions to Keller's coinage and concept have not always been either respectful or mature. Musicologist William Drabkin, for example, felt entitled to pass over the issue with the question "doesn't 'homotonality' sound a trifle queer?"
The term 'homotonality' (referring to the manifest retention of a tonic) should not be confused with 'monotonality
' (the theoretical position according to which a tonal structure has only one 'real' tonic, and all modulation is superficial or illusory).
1750s:
1760s:
1770s:
1780s:
1790s:
After 1800:
After 1900:
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
structure of multi-movement compositions. It was introduced into musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
by Hans Keller
Hans Keller
Hans Keller was an influential Austrian-born British musician and writer who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being an insightful commentator on such disparate fields as psychoanalysis and football...
. According to Keller's definition and usage, a multi-movement composition is 'homotonal' if all of its movements have the same tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
(keynote).
'Homotonality' is by no means uncommon in compositions of the Baroque era: many Baroque multi-movement works based on dance-forms manifest the same tonic—and even the same mode -- throughout. Thus, for example, J.S.Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
's solo violin partita BWV 1004 is homotonal [all movements in D minor], as is his solo flute partita BWV 1013 [all movements in A minor]. Similarly, Vivaldi's sonata for oboe and continuo RV53 (n.d.) is homotonal [all movements in C minor]. Homotonality is even encountered in some Baroque concertos: examples include Vivaldi's Cello Concertos RV401 (n.d.) [all movements in C minor] and RV416 (n.d.) [all movements in G minor], and Jean-Marie Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné, also known as Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder, was a Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school...
's Violin Concerto Op.7 No 1 (1737) [all movements in D minor].
With the Classical era, however, the situation changes. Outside of two-movement works (which, classically speaking, will maintain the same tonic for both movements and will thus be homotonal by definition), classical-era homotonality is relatively rare: a classical work in three movements will normally move to a different tonic for its middle movement, and a classical work in four movements will normally have at least one of its middle movements in a key other than the original tonic.
The classical composer most closely associated with the homotonal principle is Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
.
Keller himself was keen to emphasise that different classical composers showed differing degrees of interest in homotonal structure:
Musicological reactions to Keller's coinage and concept have not always been either respectful or mature. Musicologist William Drabkin, for example, felt entitled to pass over the issue with the question "doesn't 'homotonality' sound a trifle queer?"
The term 'homotonality' (referring to the manifest retention of a tonic) should not be confused with 'monotonality
Monotonality
Monotonality is a theoretical concept, principally deriving from the theoretical writings of Arnold Schoenberg and Heinrich Schenker, that in any piece of tonal music only one tonic is ever present, modulations being only regions or prolongations within, or extensions of the basic...
' (the theoretical position according to which a tonal structure has only one 'real' tonic, and all modulation is superficial or illusory).
Examples
Examples of 'homotonal' works (in more than two movements) from the classical era and afterwards are:1750s:
- The Toy SymphonyToy SymphonyThe Toy Symphony is a musical work with parts for toy instruments and is popularly played at Christmas....
[all movements in G major]
1760s:
- Haydn's Symphony No. 4Symphony No. 4 (Haydn)Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 4 in D major, Hoboken I/4, is believed to have been written between 1757 and 1761.It is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings and continuo. As usual for the period, it is in three movements:#Presto, 6/8...
(1757-60) [all movements in D major or D minor] - Haydn's Symphony No. 19Symphony No. 19 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 19 in D major, Hoboken I/19, is a symphony by Joseph Haydn. The symphony was composed between 1757 and 1761.It is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings and continuo. The symphony is homotonal and in three movements:...
(1757-61) [all movements in D major or D minor] - Haydn's Symphony No. 17Symphony No. 17 (Haydn)Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 17 in F major, Hoboken I/17, may have been written between 1757 and 1763.It is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings and continuo. It is in three movements:#Allegro, 3/4#Andante, ma non troppo, F minor 2/4...
(1760-61) [all movements in F major or F minor] - Haydn's Symphony No. 12Symphony No. 12 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 12 in E major is a symphony by Joseph Haydn. The symphony was composed in 1763.It is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings and continuo The symphony is homotonal and in three movements:#Allegro, 2/2...
(1763) [all movements in E major or E minor] - Haydn's Symphony No. 34Symphony No. 34 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 34 in D minor was written by Joseph Haydn. It was written in 1765 shortly before Haydn's Sturm und Drang period.- Scoring :...
(1765) [all movements in D minor or D major] - Haydn's Symphony No. 49Symphony No. 49 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 49 in F minor was written in 1768 by Joseph Haydn during his Sturm und Drang period. It is popularly known as La passione...
'La Passione' (1768) [all movements in F minor]
1770s:
- Haydn's string quartet Op.17 No. 1 (1771) [all movements in E major or E minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.17 No. 5 (1771) [all movements in G major or G minor]
- Mozart's symphony K.96 (1771) [all movements in C major or C minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.20String Quartets, Op. 20 (Haydn)The six string quartets opus 20 by Joseph Haydn are among the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet." The quartets are considered a milestone in the history of composition; in them, Haydn develops compositional techniques that were to define the medium for the next...
No. 2 (1772) [all movements in C major or C minor] - Haydn's string quartet Op.20 No. 3 (1772) [all movements in G major or G minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.20 No. 4 (1772) [all movements in D major or D minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.20 No. 5 (1772) [all movements in F minor or F major]
- Haydn's Symphony No. 44Symphony No. 44 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 44 in E minor, Hoboken 1/44, was completed in 1772 by Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as Trauer...
'Trauer' (1772) [all movements in E minor or E major] - Haydn's Symphony No. 46Symphony No. 46 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 46 in B major, Hoboken I/46, was written by Joseph Haydn. It was composed in 1772 during Haydn's Sturm und Drang period.The work is scored for two oboes, bassoon, two horns and strings.The work is written in standard four movement format....
(1772) [all movements in B major or B minor] - Haydn's piano sonata Hob.XVI:23 (1773) [all movements F major or F minor]
- Mozart's Piano Sonata K.280Piano Sonata No. 2 (Mozart)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major, K 280 is a sonata in three movements:#Allegro assai#Adagio#PrestoA typical performance takes about 14 minutes....
/K6189e (1774) [all movements in F major or F minor] - Haydn's piano sonata Hob.XVI:27 (1776) [all movements G major]
- Mozart's 'Serenata Notturna' K.239 (1776) [all movements in D major]
- Mozart's Notturno for 4 Orchestras K.286 (1777) [all movements in D major]
- Mozart's Piano Sonata K.331Piano Sonata No. 11 (Mozart)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K 331 is a sonata in three movements:#Andante grazioso — a theme with six variations#Menuetto — a minuet and trio#Alla Turca: Allegretto in A minor and major....
(1778) [all movements in A major or A minor] - Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Orchestra K.297b (1778) [all movements in E flat major]
- Haydn's Symphony No. 70Symphony No. 70 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 70 in D major, Hoboken 1/70, was written by Joseph Haydn to mark the start of construction of a new opera house on the Eszterháza estate...
(1779) [all movements in D major or D minor]
1780s:
- Haydn's piano sonata Hob.XVI:37 (1780) [all movements in D major or D minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.33 No.5String Quartets, Op. 33 (Haydn)The Op. 33 String Quartets were written by Joseph Haydn in the summer and Autumn of 1781 for the Viennese publisher Artaria. This set of quartets has several nicknames, the most common of which is the "Russian" quartets, because Haydn dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and...
(1781) [all movements in G major or G minor] - Haydn's string quartet Op.33 No.6 (1781) [all movements in D major or D minor]
- Mozart's Serenade for winds K.375Serenade No. 11 (Mozart)The Serenade No. 11 for Winds in E-flat major K. 375, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on 15 October, 1781, for St Theresa's day.The original version of the serenade is scored for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, and 2 bassoons...
(1781) [all movements in E flat major] - Haydn's string quartet Op.50 No.6 (1787) [all movements in D major or D minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.54 No.2 (1788) [all movements in C major or C minor]
- Haydn's string quartet Op.55 No.2 (1788) [all movements in F minor or F major]
1790s:
- Haydn's string quartet Op.64 No.2 (1790) [all movements in B minor or B major]
- Beethoven's piano sonata Op.2 No.1Piano Sonata No. 1 (Beethoven)Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1, was written in 1795 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. It is the first piano sonata written by Beethoven...
(1795) [all movements in F minor or F major] (dedicated to Haydn) - Haydn's string quartet Op.76String Quartets, Op. 76 (Haydn)Joseph Haydn's string quartets, Op. 76 were composed in 1796 or 1797 and dedicated to the Hungarian Count Joseph Erdödy. The six quartets are the last complete set that Haydn composed...
No.2 (1797) [all movements in D minor or D major] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.10 No.2Piano Sonata No. 6 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2, was dedicated to the Countess Anne Margarete von Browne, and written from 1796 to 1798.The sonata spans approximately 14 minutes.- Form :The sonata is divided into three movements:...
(1796-98) [all movements in F major or F minor] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.10 No.3Piano Sonata No. 7 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3, was dedicated to the Countess Anne Margarete von Browne, and written in 1798. This makes it contemporary with his three string trios opus 9, the violin sonatas of opus 12 and the violin romance that became his opus 50 when later...
(1796-98) [all movements in D major or D minor] - Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 2Violin Sonata No. 2 (Beethoven)The Violin Sonata No. 2 of Ludwig van Beethoven in A major, the second of his Opus 12 set , was written in 1797-8 and dedicated to Antonio Salieri...
, Op.12 No.2 (1797-8) [all movements in A major or A minor] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.14 No.1Piano Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven)The Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1, is an early-period work by Ludwig van Beethoven, dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun. It was composed in 1798 and transcribed - not arranged - for string quartet by the composer in 1801 , the result containing more quartet-like passagework and...
(1798-99) [all movements in E major or E minor] - Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 4Violin Sonata No. 4 (Beethoven)The Violin Sonata No. 4 of Ludwig van Beethoven in A minor, his Opus 23, was composed in 1801, published in October that year, and dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries. It followed by one year the composition of his first symphony, and was originally meant to be published alongside Violin Sonata No....
Op. 23 (1800) ([all movements in A minor or A major]
After 1800:
- Beethoven's string quartet Op.18 No.4String Quartet No. 4 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet No. 4 in C minor was published in 1801 as opus 18, no. 4, and was written between 1798 and 1800. It consists of four movements:# Allegro ma non tanto# Andante scherzoso quasi Allegretto# Menuetto: Allegretto...
(1801) [all movements in C major or C minor] - Beethoven's piano sonata Quasi una fantasia Op.27 No.2Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
('Moonlight Sonata') (1801) [All movements in C sharp minor or D flat major] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.28Piano Sonata No. 15 (Beethoven)Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was named Pastoral or Pastorale by Beethoven's publisher at the time, A. Cranz. While nowhere near as widely recognised as its predecessor, the Piano Sonata No. 14, known often as the Moonlight Sonata, it is...
(1801) [all movements in D major or D minor] - Clementi's piano sonata Op.40 No.2 (1801-02) [all movements in B minor]
- Clementi's piano sonata Op.40 No.3 (1802) [all movements in D major or D minor]
- Beethoven's string quartet Op.59 No.2String Quartet No. 8 (Beethoven)The String Quartet No. 8 in E minor by Ludwig van Beethoven, opus 59, no. 2, was the second of three of his "Razumovsky" cycle of string quartets, and is a product of his "middle" style period. He published it in 1808...
(1806) [all movements in E minor or E major] - Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3Cello Sonata No. 3 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 was writtenin 1808. It consists of three movements:# Allegro, ma non tanto# Scherzo# Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivacein contrast to the normal sonata form fast–slow–fast....
Op.69 (1807-8) ([all movements in A major or A minor] - Beethoven's Piano TrioPiano trioA piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
Op.70 No.1 ('Ghost') (1808) ([all movements in D major or D minor] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.79Piano Sonata No. 25 (Beethoven)The Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1809. It consists of three movements:#Presto alla tedesca#Andante#Vivace...
(1809) [all movements in G major or G minor] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.90Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven)The Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor is Ludwig van Beethoven's Op. 90. The work, written in the summer of 1814 in Beethoven's late Middle period, was dedicated to Count Moritz von Lichnowsky.- Form :...
(1814) [two movements; E minor and E major] - Beethoven's piano sonata Op.109Piano Sonata No. 30 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, composed in 1820, is the antepenultimate of his piano sonatas. In it, after the huge Hammerklavier sonata, Op. 106, Beethoven returns to a smaller scale and a more intimate character...
(1820) [all movements in E major or E minor] - Schubert's string quartet D.87 (1813) [all movements in E flat major]
- Schubert's piano sonata No.7 in D (1st Version of D.568) (1817) [All movements in D flat major or C sharp minor]
- Clementi's piano sonata Op.50 No.3 'Didone Abbandonata' (1821) [all movements in G minor]
- Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1Piano Concerto No. 1 (Chopin)The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, is a piano concerto written by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was first performed on 11 October of that year, in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist, during one of his "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland....
Op. 11 (1830) [all movements in E minor or E major] - MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's Organ Sonata Op.65 No.2 (1844) [All movements in C minor or C major] - Mendelssohn's Organ Sonata Op.65 No.6 (1845) [All movements in D major or D minor]
- Schumann's Symphony No. 2Symphony No. 2 (Schumann)The Symphony in C major by German composer Robert Schumann was published in 1847 as his Symphony No. 2, Op. 61, although it was the third symphony he had completed, counting the B-flat major symphony published as No. 1 in 1841, and the original version of his D minor symphony of 1841 The Symphony...
Op. 61 (1845-46) [all movements in C major or C minor] - Brahms' Piano Trio No. 1Piano Trio No. 1 (Brahms)The Piano Trio in B, opus 8, by Johannes Brahms was composed during 1854. The composer produced a revised version of the work in 1891. It is scored for piano, violin and cello, and it is the only work of Brahms to exist today in two published versions, although it is almost always the revised...
Op. 8 (1853-4; rev. 1889) [all movements in B major or B minor] - Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1Piano Concerto No. 1 (Brahms)The Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, is a work for piano and orchestra composed by Johannes Brahms in 1858. The composer gave the work's public debut in Hanover, Germany, the following year.-Form:...
Op.15 (1854-9) ([all movements in D minor or D major] - Brahms' Horn TrioHorn Trio (Brahms)The Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40, by Johannes Brahms is a chamber piece in four movements written for natural horn, violin, and piano. Composed in 1865, the work commemorates the death of Brahms’ mother, Christiane, earlier that year. The work was first performed in Zurich on November 28,...
Op. 40 (1865) [all movements in E flat major or E flat minor] - Brahms' Clarinet SonataClarinet Sonatas (Brahms)The Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2 are a pair of works written for clarinet and piano by the Romantic composer Johannes Brahms. They were written in 1894 and are dedicated to the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The sonatas stem from a period in Brahms’s life where he “discovered” the beauty...
Op. 120 No. 2 (1894) [all movements in E flat major or E flat minor]
After 1900:
- Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (1915) [all movements in F major or F minor]
- Debussy's Violin Sonata (1916-17) [all movements in G minor or G major]
- Britten's 'Sinfonia da Requiem'Sinfonia da RequiemSinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20, for orchestra is a symphony written by Benjamin Britten in 1940 at the age of 26. It was one of several works commissioned from different composers by the Japanese Government to mark the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Empire...
, Op.20 (1940) [all movements in D major or D minor] - Britten's string quartet No.2, Op.36 (1945) [all movements in C major or C minor]
- Miriam Hyde's Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano [all movements in G major or G minor] (1948)