Formstrategien der Zweiteiligkeit in Mozarts Menuetten

Abstract

Binary Formal Strategies in Mozart´s Minuets


Minuets in Viennese Classicism fundamentally oscillate between binary and ternary character. Formally speaking they are binary, but their content is rounded off with thematic-motivic reappearances. The minuets with a reprise following a middle section (ternary form) are relatively uniform, while the striving for completion in the forms without a reprise (binary form) leads to a variety of solutions. The different strategies and varieties of thematic rounding are systematically laid out, using the example of Mozart´s two-part minuets. The article ends with a closer analysis of an individual work in terms of its formal effects.