Abstract
From the very first lesson of composition, Maestro Sigismund Toduțǎ insisted on the cohesion of the musical discourse, which according to him could be best achieved through different variation and motivic elaboration techniques. The perfect model for such a composition lesson is recorded in the 1st Volume of his Treaty entitled Formele muzicale ale barocului în operele lui J. S. Bach [Baroque Musical Forms in the Works of J. S. Bach], based on the minute analysis of the Minuet No. 1 in G minor from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, 1725. The method of analysis offers an insight into the Maestro’s artistic credo that lies at the heart of his entire musical creation. The way in which this concept evolved over time is revealed most clearly by a comparative analysis of the opening passages of two related works: the Sonatas No. 1 and 2 for flute and piano. While the opening passage of the Sonata no. 1 (1952) is based on preponderantly modal-diatonic motivic evolutions and on classical morphology (antecedent phrase-consequent phrase, tempo giusto, harmonic piano support, example 2), the opening part of the Sonata no. 2 (1988) relies on the solo flute for the continuous variation of some primary melodic cells, which also appear at the beginning of the Sonata no. 1 (torculus, porrectus). Compared to the mostly diatonic language of the Sonata no. 1, the later work prefers a modal chromatic language in rubato tempo, recalling the ethos of the Romanian folk doinas (examples 6, 7).
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