5.5 Interruption: a summary

As I have already stated, the principle of interruption is extremely important in music of the Classical period. This kind of antecedent–consequent phrase, with a balanced I–V ∥ I–V–I harmonic scheme, is found many times over in Mozart. It can be expanded to produce a simple binary form, and expanded further to produce what we call sonata form. In fact there are very few movements by Mozart which do not feature interruptions at some level or other.

I hope you have seen how discussing Mozart's harmonic language from the perspective of features beyond the immediate surface of the music – linear formations and motivic shapes – allows us to consider aspects of Mozart's musical designs that lie beyond the scope of traditional harmonic analysis. This course is going to end with a discussion of how the principles we have observed in the short extracts used so far can address issues of large-scale structure, even across the span of entire movements.