The Finale in Western Instrumental Music

Download or read book The Finale in Western Instrumental Music written by Michael Talbot and published by Oxford Monographs on Music. This book was released on 2001 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The knowledge that finales are by tradition (and perhaps also necessarily) 'different' from other movements has been around a long time, but this is the first time that the special nature of finales in instrumental music has been examined comprehensively and in detail. Three main types of finale, labelled 'relaxant', 'summative', and 'valedictory', are identified. Each type is studied closely, with a wealth of illustration and analytical commentary covering the entire period from the Renaissance to the present day. The history of finales in five important genres -- suite, sonata, string quartet, symphony, and concerto -- is traced, and the parallels and divergences between these traditions are identified. Several wider issues are mentioned, including narrativity, musical rounding, inter-movement relationships, and the nature of codas. The book ends with a look at the finales of all Shostakovich's string quartets, in which examples of most of the types may be found.