By David E. Morton
(Best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or above. Some pages may not display correctly with a Netscape browser.
By David E. Morton
(Best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or above. Some pages may not display correctly with a Netscape browser.
With Netscape 6.x, most pages will display correctly except that the arrows pointing to the beginning and end of
the Trademark phrases may be shifted to the wrong location.)
This is: www.mozartsmtm.org formerly www.mozartsmtm.info
Last updated on April 7th, 2009. Contact: Dmorton965@aol.com
A significant portion of Mozart's music contains a short musical phrase making it
a musical trademark since it is used so often and in so many ways.
The phrase is sometimes expanded to a multi-bar theme, or uses a variation of the phrase, and is
possibly even used symbolically.
Its form may be simple, complex, or very complex and hidden.
This paper includes 32 citations of the phrase - 18 with sheet music, and 17 with example
sound clips in MIDI format. 8 musical forms are represented (symphony, piano sonata, etc).
Short audio example from K.511, mm 73-75: K511.mid (click to listen)
The Trademark Phrase, its Definition, etc (this page)
Synopsis
Mozart often used a particular, 2-chord musical phrase in a creative and sophisticated way.
Other composers also occasionally used the phrase, but not nearly as often as Mozart, and not in as
many creative ways.
This paper illustrates the existence of the phrase in Mozart's music, and demonstrates how it can be
identified.. The phrase is defined in terms of "note relationships" - not chord names, although
chord names are used in this paper for convenience when discussing the notes.
Examples of most of the phrases are supplied in sheet-music form, and as MIDI sound clips for
playing on a computer.
History
The "Trademark Phrase" was first discovered in the early 1960s by the author. This paper was
first written in 1998, and placed on the web in 2002. A number of revisions have been made for clarity,
and more examples added since 1998, but no fundamental changes have been made to the concept
or definition..
. . . . . . . .
Introduction
“Trade-mark n ... 2: a distinguishing characteristic or feature firmly associated with a
person or thing. <Derringers became almost a trademark of gamblers>”.
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973.
Many of Mozart's pieces contain a particular 2-chord musical phrase (or chord progression)
known as "an Italian 6th chord, followed by a major resolution".
The "Italian 6th" is a form of the augmented 6th chord.
He not only used this phrase far more frequently than other composers, he also focused on it
in some passages, and developed it to a high degree of sophistication as only Mozart could.
It is deeply embedded in much of his music. In some cases, it forms the core musical fabric
of a section or passage.
His frequent usage and development of this phrase has always been one of the distinguishing
characteristics of much of his music (to my ears) which I’ve always thought of as his musical trademark.
The phrase may exist as:
2 chords (discussed here),
As a series of separate notes forming 2 chords (discussed here),
As a series of non-linear separate notes (in more complex cases, not discussed here).
It should be mentioned that this trademark characteristic of Mozart's music is not simply a matter
of counting how many times Mozart used the phrase compared with other contemporary composers.
Mozart often focused on that phrase with the music seemingly funneled to it, and sometimes used it
in complex ways. The augmented 6th was generally not used by Mozart as a mere short bridge
to some other musical idea: It and its resolution and preamble were the musical idea, in many
cases. It was often the musical fabric itself. No other composer did this to the extent that Mozart did,
making Mozart's usage of the phrase unique.
Types of Augmented 6th Chords used by Mozart
Mozart used the Italian, German and French forms of the augmented 6th chord. The latter two
are supersets of the Italian form, containing an extra note in each case. That is:
Augmented 6th - 2 notes (such as D#--------C#)
Italian 6th - 3 notes = augmented 6th + 1 note (such as D#-G-----C#)
German 6th - 4 notes = Italian 6th + 1 note (such as D#-G-A#-C#)
French 6th - 4 notes = Italian 6th + 1 note (such as D#-G-A--C#)
Even when Mozart used the German and French forms of the augmented 6th chord, he was still using
the notes of the Italian 6th to form the basic structure of the chord.
The origin of the names "Italian, French, and German" 6th are unknown.
Reason for its Use
It is not known if Mozart intentionally used this phrase as a way of musically "signing his name",
as an artist would sign his name, or if he simply used it because he liked the phrase,
and its use seemed fitting for a particular location in a piece. Unless a letter or other evidence
turns up where he mentions its intentional inclusion, we may never know his motivation for
using it so often.
Mozart used the phrase so often and in so many different ways, that it is safe to say that
he had an endless fascination with it. Perhaps that was his reason for using it.
Since the phrase does not appear in all his pieces, it might seem that it is not a musical
signature or musical trademark, and would be the equivalent of van Gogh signing some of his
paintings, but not all of them. However, not every piece permits its use, musically
speaking: Some are too short, some have the wrong "ambience", etc. While van Gogh could
sign his name to every painting, Mozart could not do the same to every composition.
In general, the trademark phrase appears in pieces, which are long enough to permit it, and have
the right musical ambience - sometimes appearing multiple times in a single piece and even on a
single page.
Meaning of its Use
Since we don't know the reason Mozart used this phrase so often, it's difficult or impossible to
assign a meaning to it. However, some elementary conclusions can be drawn:
1. The phrase illustrates the kind of music Mozart liked - at least, in terms of 2 chords.
2. The phrase illustrates the kind of music Mozart was fascinated by.
3. We can see Mozart's creative abilities at work on a single phrase as he invents different forms
of the phrase.
4. The phrase represents Mozart's music to a degree, since it is so pervasive and often thoroughly
embedded..
We can also speculate as to whether the phrase may have represented Mozart himself, at times,
being used as it was in the highly personal piano rondo K.511, the concert aria K.505, and others.
K.505 was written as a "duet" for voice and piano for his friend Nancy Storace, with Nancy singing,
and Wolfgang playing the accompanying piano part. There's no way of knowing if Mozart used
the phrase in K.505 to represent himself, but since the phrase represents his music (to a degree),
and since his music represents who he was (to a degree), it would not be much of a reach to say
that the phrase which represented his music and who he was therefore represented him in that piece.
If that speculation is true, then the trademark phrase is much more than a trademark:
It is the musical representation of Mozart himself.
While the phrase may not be musically significant, in most cases, the symbolic value of the phrase
may be its most important feature: It may musically represent Mozart in one "sound bite".
Earliest Use
The earliest use of the phrase, so far, appears to be K.19d (May, 1765, age 8) for 2-manual harpsichord,
4 hands, written for performing by himself and Nannerl, his sister.
The date is uncertain since the style of the piece doesn't appear to match Mozart's then-current style.
Wolfgang Plath has doubts as to the authenticity of the piece, but all the known facts about it seem to
make it probable that Mozart was the composer. For example, a Mozart family portrait depicts
Nannerl playing the piano in exactly the same way that she would have played K.19d as the primo
performer of the 4-handed piece on a single keyboard, with her left hand reaching under Mozart's right hand.
As an example of another early piece, it can easily be heard in the Symphony Number 6 in F Major
(K.43), written in 1767 when Mozart was 11.
Usage by Other Composers
JS Bach: A candidate for occasional usage would be the music of JS Bach, and one such example
is listed here from the Mass in B Minor.
Beethoven: The phrase may also have been used frequently by Beethoven in his early years when he
was writing in the style of Mozart.
Chopin: An example of the phrase from a Chopin Piano Concerto is also provided, although Chopin
appeared to be using that phrase as a rather weak bridge to some other musical idea.
Gasparini: It can be found in some music by (or believed to be by) Quirino Gasparini, some of which Mozart
included in one of his pieces (K.195/186d - Litaniae Lauretanae, number 3: Salus Inforum).
That is, the Salus Inforum, which contains the trademark phrase, is believed to be by Gasparini, and Mozart
included that piece in his K.195 - Litaniae Lauretanae.
Gasparini also wrote a beautiful piece called Adoramus Te which was originally attributed to Mozart (K.327)
since Mozart had made a copy of it. This piece by Gasparini also contains the trademark phrase.
So, in Gasparini's case, Mozart used or copied the pieces containing the trademark phrase penned by Gasparini
on 2 occasions, and incorporated them into his own works or study materials.
Mozart's composition pupils: The phrase can be found in the music of Mozart's composition pupils.
Other Locations
It could conceivably be found in Handel’s Messiah and some other pieces by Handel orchestrated by
Mozart, where Mozart added his own harmony to many sections.
In any event, the use of this phrase is typical of Mozart, and is part of his style in many pieces.
Except for occasional usage by other composers, its origin, usage and development centers around
Mozart.
General Characterization
The phrase consists of 2 chords. Each chord contains 3 notes.
In musical notation it is:
|
(Actually Eb-G-Db for the first chord)
The 2 lower notes in each chord are major 3rds, highlighted in purple, below.
The top and bottom notes in the 2nd chord are always an octave apart.
The 2-chord phrase always looks like this (pictorially), regardless of the actual notes used:
Eb---G---Db
1st chord (Italian 6th)
D---F#-------D
2nd chord
(modified major triad)
The 2
notes forming the +6 interval resolve outwardly by
half steps
to an
octave.
Neither one of the notes forming the +6
interval moves a full step to form an octave.
The note comprising the major third also moves by a half step.
Additionally, the leading voice moves by a half step (Db to D in the example above).
The root key in the preceding examples is G minor.
The top note of the 2nd chord (D nat in the examples) forms the dominant note for the root key.
Thus, we usually see the progression:
G---Bb---D---G
==>
Eb---G---Db
==>
D---F#---D
==>
G---Bb---D---G
Minor
(Minor)
Major
Minor
i of G minor It#6 V of G minor i of G minor
Typical progression from minor, to major, and back to minor.
The yellow portion represents the trademark phrase.
The trademark phrase temporarily converts the key from minor to major, and usually continues to the
root key (which is usually minor). Thus, it is usually found where the piece is in a minor key.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definition of the Trademark Phrase
The definition of the phrase involves the relationships between the minimum number of notes which
describe the phrase, as well as other factors.
Definition 1 (musical):
1. The phrase being defined is referred to as "Mozart's MTM" (Mozart's Musical TradeMark) or simply,
"the MTM".
2. The MTM phrase consists of 2 chords, with each chord containing 3 notes.
3. The first chord consists of a major 3rd for the lower 2 notes, and an upper note a +6th higher than
the lower note.
4. If any additional notes accompany the first chord in the original music, and they are lower than the
lowest note of the first MTM chord, then the lowest accompanying note must be the same note as the
lowest note in the chord, lowered by 1 or more octaves.
5. The second chord consists of a major 3rd for the lower 2 notes and an upper note an octave above the
lower note.
6. The lowest note in the 2nd chord is 1 semi-tone lower than the lowest note in the first chord.
7. The 2 notes forming the +6 interval in the first chord resolve outwardly by half steps to an octave in the
2nd chord.
8. The note comprising the major third in the first chord (the middle note) moves down by a half step in the
2nd chord.
9. The 2nd chord (the resolution) must appear within 2 measures of the first chord.
10. Key signature is not a factor in the definition.
11. Musical nomenclature involving chord names or types are not part of the definition.
12. For MTM determination, some notes in the original music may need to be eliminated to strip away
unnecessary notes, based on the rules below. See "Reduction of Notes" below.
13. For MTM determination, some notes in the original music may need to be be interpolated based on the
rule "Interpolation of Notes" below.
14. If the 2 chords match the criteria described above, then the phrase is a “musical trademark” phrase,
or "MTM", whether by Mozart or another composer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Rather than using the
formal definition when searching for the phrase, it may be easier to
use the earlier examples for comparison,
and mentally convert the notes on the sheet music to
their equivalent locations in the examples, or
to quickly check the chord relationships using the
examples as references.
Additional Attributes and Rules
Nomenclature
The first chord of the phrase is an "Italian 6th"- not a "dominant 7th" - even though the notes in the
two types of chords may be identical.
The standard chord names are used as a shorthand in describing the notes, but the definition
of the phrase, above, is what determines a phrase's qualification to be called a "trademark phrase."
MTM Determination: Reduction of Notes
Compression
Compression is simply a preliminary note-removal process, stripping away some of the non-essential
notes to illuminate the trademark phrase.
Where the notes in the 1st or 2nd chords are separated by more than 1 octave from each other,
pitches may be raised or lowered by octave intervals (compressed) as long as their relative positions
in terms of "higher" or "lower" remain the same. This applies to all notes in both chords.
Additionally, intervening notes, if any, are deleted.
Example of compression:
As Written: Eb-Eb---G-Bb-C#-Bb-C#
===> D-D----F#-A--D-F#-DCompressed: Eb---G----C#-Bb ===> D----F#----D-F#
Further Removal of Irrelevant Notes
The notes may need to be reduced further (after compression has been done) to reveal the trademark phrase.
Example of compression and further removal of irrelevant notes :
As Written: Eb-Eb---G-Bb-C#-Bb-C#
===> D-D----F#-A--D-F#-DCompressed: Eb---G----C#-Bb ===> D----F#----D-F#
Further Removal: Eb---G----C# ===> D----F#----D
Musical TM: Eb---G----C# ===> D----F#----D
MTM Determination: Interpolation of Notes
The phrase often appears in a
modified form, configured with its middle note in the upper
position
(such as the G and F# below).
When that occurs, the higher
note must be moved between the other 2 notes (interpolated)
to form the middle note for the
required major 3rd(s).
When interpolation is done, it must be done to both chords.
As Written Eb---------Db---G ===> D----------D---F#
(before)
Trademark
Phrase Via
Interpolation: Eb---[G]---Db ===> D---[F#]---D .
(after)
The interpolated middle notes are in brackets. They can come from any notes that are part of that
beat or phrase. (Normally they are present as part of that beat).
Interpolation applies only to the finalized middle notes of the phrase as defined earlier.
The lowest and highest notes of the finalized trademark chords do not qualify for interpolation.
For example in the chord Db-Eb-G, the Db could not be moved above the G to form the finalized chord
Eb-G-Db since it is an upper or lower note of the trademark phrase - not a middle note. Only the G
would qualify for interpolation since it is capable of forming the middle note of the trademark phrase.
modified individual notes
modified phrase
Click to hear modified form of phrase before interpolation of notes
MTM Determination: Delayed Resolution
In some cases, the 2nd chord (the resolution) is delayed by one or more intervening beats. As far as
is known, this deferment does not exceed 2 measures. Therefore, in searching for this phrase, one
cannot always assume that the next chord following a matching first chord is the one to evaluate.
Example A6, which cites a trademark phrase in K.594, beginning at measure 5, beat 1, features a
delayed resolution of the 2nd chord in the phrase. The resolution is delayed until the next measure, and
the phrase is considered to be a trademark phrase despite the delayed resolution.
Alternate Definitions
For the purposes of this paper, there are no alternate definitions of "Mozart's Musical Trademark".
Definition 2 (numeric)
The
numeric definition is the same as the musical definition, but uses
numbers instead of note/chord
descriptions. See Appendix 1.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Types of Phrases
There are 2 types of trademark phrases:
Type-I: The chords meet the musical definition..
Type-II: Variations on Type-I.
These incorporate the same, basic musical idea, but have been modified in some way.
For example, the phrase might include the first trademark chord, but proceed to a minor chord rather
than a major chord (Don Giovanni, overture, mm 10-11; Rondo ala Turca, mm 20-21).
It may include the first trademark chord, proceed to a minor chord, and then to a resolving major chord,
with the minor chord lodged in the middle of the trademark phrase (Requiem, Lacrimosa, homo reus, m 8).
It may proceed in the direction of an augmented 6th, modify a single note so the augmented 6th never
materializes, then conclude with a minor chord (Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, last 3 measures).
There are doubtless many other examples of variations on the trademark phrase.
Several examples of both Type-I and Type-II trademark phrases are illustrated in this paper.
