Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

512 SONATA
fugue, illustrated with more strictness of manner
by the Canzonas. Only in calibre and quality of
ideas, and in some peculiar idiosyncrasies of
structure do they differ materially from the works
of the Italian masters. Even the first, third,
and fifth Sonatas in the other set of six, for violin
alone, conform accurately to the old four-movement
plan, including the fugue in the second
place ; the remaining three being on the general
lines of the Suite. In most of the Sonatas for
violin and clavier, the slow movement is a tower
of strength, and strikes a point of rich and complex
emotional expression which music reached
for the first time in Bach's imagination. His
favourite way of formulating a movement of this
sort, was to develop the whole accompaniment
consistently on a concise and strongly-marked
figure, which by repetition in different conditions
formed a bond of connection throughout the
whole ; and on this he built a passionate kind of
recitative, a free and unconstrained outpouring
of the deepest and noblest instrumental song.
This was a sort of apotheosis of that form of
rhapsody, which has been noticed in the early
Sonatas, such as Biber's and Kuhnau's, and was
occasionally attempted by the Italians. The
six Sonatas present diversities of types, all of the
loftiest order ; some of them combining together
with unfailing expressiveness perfect specimens
of old forms of contrapuntal ingenuity. Of this,
the second movement of the second Sonata is a
perfect example. It appears to be a pathetic
colloquy between the violin and the treble of the
_
clavier part, to which the bass keeps up the slow
constant motion of staccato semiquavers : the
colloquy at the same time is in strict canon
throughout, and, as a specimen of expressive
treatment of that time-honoured form, is almost
unrivalled.
In all these movements the kinship is rather
with the conti'apuntal writers of the past, than
with the types of Beethoven's adoption. Even
Bach, immense as his genius and power of divination
was, could not leap over that period of
formation which it seems to have been indispensable
for mankind to pass through, before equally
noble and deeply-felt things tould beexpressedin
the characteristically modern manner. Though
he looked further into the future in matters of
expression and harmonic combination than any
composer till the 19th century, he still had to
use forms of the contrapuntal and fugal order
for the expression of his highest thoughts. He
did occasionally make use of binary form, though
not in these Sonatas. But he more commonly
adopted, and combined with more or less fugal
treatment, an expansion of simple primary form
to attain structural effect. Thus, in the second
tnovements of the first and second Sonatas, in
the last of the third and sixth, and the fiirst of
the sixth, he marks first a long complete section
in his principal key, then takes his way into
modulations and development, and discussion
of themes and various kinds of contrapuntal
enjoyment, and concludes with simple complete
recapitulation of the first section in the principal
key. Bach thus stands singularly aside from
the direct line of the development of the Sonata
as far as the structural elements are concerned.
His contributions to the art of expression, to the
development of resource, and to the definition
and treatment of ideas, had great effect, and are
of the very highest importance to instrumental
music ; but his almost invariable choice of either
the suite-form, or the accepted outlines of the
violin sonata, in works of this class, caused him
to diverge into a course which with him found
its final and supreme limit. In order to continue
the work in veins which were yet unexhausted,
the path had to be turned a little, and
joined to courses which were coming up from
other directions. The violin sonata continued
to make its appearance here and there as has
already been mentioned, but in the course of a
generation it was entirely supplanted by the
distinct type of clavier sonata.
Meanwhile there was another composer of this
time, who appears to stand just as singularly
apart from the direct high road as Bach, and
who, though he does not occupy a pedestal so
high in the history of art, still has a niche by
no means low or inconspicuous, and one which
he shares with no one. Domenico Scarlatti was
Bach's senior by a few years, though not enough
to place him in an earlier musical generation ;
and in fact though his works are so different in
quality, they have the stamp that marks them
as belonging to the same parallel of time.
His most valuable contributions are in the
immense numbei- of sonatas and studies which
he wrote for the harpsichord. The two names
are used as synonyms, for each of the thirty
' Eseroizii per Gravicembalo ' is separately entitled
Sonata. ' ' But whatever they are called
they do not correspond in appearance to any form
which is commonly supposed to be essential to
the Sonata. Neither can they be taken as purebred
members of the fugal family, nor do they
trace their origins to the Suite. They are in
fact, in a fair proportion of cases, an attempt to
deal with direct ideas in a modern sense, without
appealing to the glamour of conscious association,
the dignity of science, or the familiarity of
established dance rhythms. The connection
with what goes before and with what comes after
is alike obscure, because of the daring originality
with which existing materials are worked upon ;
but it is not the less inevitably present, as an outline
of his structural principles will show.
His utterance is at its best sharp and incisive ;
the form in which he loves to express himself is
epigrammatic ; and some of his most effective
sonatas are like strings of short propositions
bound together by an indefinable sense of consistency
and consequence, rather than by actual
development. These ideasan- commonly brought