Bryan Proksch, Ph.D. 2006

Advisor: Mark Evan Bonds

Dissertation Title: Cyclic Integration in the Instrumental Music of Haydn and Mozart

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Dissertation Abstract:

Cyclic coherence, the manner in which movements of a work relate to one another, is a compositional device generally associated with the music of the nineteenth century, beginning with the works of Beethoven. Because thematic resemblance, a fundamental aspect of nineteenth-century cyclic coherence, appears with much less frequency in late eighteenth-century music, Haydn and Mozart’s interest in this device has been questioned. Our attitude towards cyclic coherence in Haydn and Mozart has been skewed by this nineteenth-century focus on thematic connections as well as an “all or nothing” approach towards proposed relationships among movements. 

I will argue for a broader conception of cyclic coherence in the music of Haydn and Mozart by viewing it as a compositional approach that incorporates a variety of compositional techniques and musical elements with varying degrees of strength. Thematic resemblance will not play a central role in this conception of cyclic coherence. Instead, compositional elements, such as counterpoint, phrase structure, tessitura, articulation, and harmonic motion, will be examined to evaluate cyclic connections on a work-by-work basis. I will begin by outlining a methodology for the examination of eighteenth-century cyclic coherence using Mozart’s String Quartet in A Major (K. 464) as a case study. Next, I will examine the various guises of cyclic coherence in the period with reference to a variety of works by the two composers. Finally, I will examine the role of genre as an influential factor in cyclic coherence through a broad study of a large number of instrumental works written by Haydn and Mozart from 1780 onward. 

Dr. Proksch is currently Associate Professor of music history at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. His research on Haydn reception produced the monograph Reviving Haydn: New Appreciations in the Twentieth Century, while his work on John Philip Sousa and American bands yielded the volume A Sousa Reader: Essays, Interviews, and Clippings. He plays trumpet and organ, and has affiliations with the International Trumpet Guild and the American Guild of Organists. In addition, he hosts a radio show, “Behind the Music,” on 91.3 KVLU Public Radio.