Analyse Johann Christian Bachs piano sonata in Eb major, op.

5/4 (Warburton A4),

with regard to the features of the galant style in 18th-century music.
Johann Christian Bach's Eb major sonata for piano is a typical example of the galant
style in the 18th century. Galant is a word that stems from the French verb galer,
which means "to amuse" or "to be merry," and it was used in French literature in the
13th century.1 The term galant appeared from the 14th century, and in 18th century
Germany it was used to describe almost anything that was fashionable or pleasant.2
The galant style was light; the music was for entertainment purposes, as opposed to
being attached to the Church.3 As Daniel Gottlob Trk states in his Klavierschule
(School of Clavier Playing) towards the end of the 18th century (1789): "In general,
the free style of writing [galant] has more expression and euphony rather than art as
its chief purpose."4 Typically, galant music is more homophonic as the emphasis is on
the melody, which contrasts the dense polyphony of Baroque music. As the style was
focused on lightness, the music can lack the level of intensity that the Baroque period
is so well known for.5
Galant was a term for a style of music, not a period. This style overlaps both the
Baroque and the Classical eras, as J.S. Bach was one of the first composers to write in
this style. Most of the repertoire for this style was instrumental, "specifically
keyboard music."6 Therefore, J. C. Bach's Sonata in Eb major, Op.5 no.4, is an ideal
work to look at when talking about the galant style. This sonata was included in his
first set of 6 keyboard sonatas, Op.5 ("for the PianoForte or Harpsichord"), which was
published in 1768 in London.7 Almost all of the sonatas are in major; there was
certainly a preference for major in galant music as it was more light than minor
modes.8 It is set in two movements, simply titled Allegro and Rondeaux, which are
both in the tonic key. These movements show the development towards the
traditional, Classical piano sonata, in which there are three movements in the tonic,
dominant (or occasionally subdominant) and tonic respectively, where the central
movement is often in 3/4 metre and slower than the other two. As there are only two
movements in the Eb sonata, the second is in 3/4 time and slower than the first, but it
remains in the tonic.
The first movement is based on sonata form. One of the first things shown in the score
is a dynamic marking of piano; this suggests that it was in fact composed for the
relatively new PianoForte rather than the harpsichord, as the harpsichord was unable
to change the volume at which it was played. The exposition begins in Eb major; the
whole of the first bar is in Eb and the harmonic rhythm is very slow, which shows a

David A. Sheldon, 'The Galant Style Revisited and Re-Evaluated', Acta Musicologica, Vol.47 Fasc.2
(July - December 1975), 240-270, p.241
2
Mark A. Radice, 'The Nature of the "Style Galant": Evidence from the Repertoire', The Musical
Quarterly, Vol. 83 No. 4 (Winter, 1999), 607-647, pp.613-614
3
Richard Taruskin, Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2010), p.263
4
Daniel Gottlob Trk, School of Clavier Playing, trans. Raymond H. Haggh (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1982), 399. In SR 132 (5:11), p.891
5
History lecture notes, Guido Heldt Lecture 1, 28/01/14
6
Radice, p.615
7
Taruskin, p.420
8
Radice, p.629

"considerably simplified musical style."9 Most phrases are about four bars long,
typical of the galant style, and bars nine to fourteen are an exact repeat of bars one to
six. Repetition is certainly a notable feature as gestures are often repeated, either to
emphasise a point or simply for familiarity; this occurs very frequently throughout the
sonata.10
Bar seventeen has marked the modulation to the dominant, Bb major. There was no
perfect cadence leading into this; there was just one A natural in the preceding bar.
D.G. Trk, talking about any composer of galant style, claims:
"He often permits bold changes, which could even be contrary to the generally
accepted rules of modulation, assuming that the composer in doing this proceeds with
proper insight and judgment."11
Fundamentally, this statement suggests that the modulation did not necessarily require
a perfect cadence or the use of a secondary dominant, provided that it was executed in
an appropriate fashion. This new section is quite a contrast to the first, both in terms
of key and metre. The first section was in a clear 4/4 metre, yet bar seventeen is
marked by "typically galant triplets"12 with a 12/8 feel.
Bars 29 and 30 are the start of an enclosed 4 bar phrase, finishing on an imperfect
cadence, and these bars are repeated in 33 and 34. Repetition of short phrases is
frequent in this movement; bars 36 - 37 are repeated in 38 and 39, except the
descending Bb major scale starts on a Bb the first time and a D the second. Bar 40
takes the form of a cadential 6/4, as the first two beats are a second inversion Bb
chord and the last two are an F major chord. Johann Mattheson was one of the first
theorists to write about the galant style: "the cadential 6/4 chord, [...], was cited by
Mattheson as being galant."13 The final three bars of the exposition contain a tonic
pedal in the bass played in octaves, yet another typical feature.14 Bars 41-42 contain
descending thirds followed by descending sixths, which "appear frequently in the
right hand keyboard part."15
After the exposition is repeated, the development starts. A Bb pedal is played over
which the split arpeggiated chord is played for two bars. Bars 44-49 are equivalent to
50-55, but 50 starts down a fifth in Eb major as opposed to 44 starting in Bb. Bars 54
through 60 show how this is truly a development section, as many different keys are
travelled through. From 73 the harmony starts to move back towards the original
tonic, Eb major. There are plenty of trills, appoggiaturas and other ornaments in this
sonata; as the style is carefree and light, a "liberally ornamented melody" 16 is
aesthetically pleasing.
9

Radice, p.621
J. Peter Burkholder (ed.) A History of Western Music, 8th edn (New York: W. W. Norton & co.,
2008), p.477
11
Trk, p.891
12
Daniel Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720 - 1780, (New York: W. W.
Norton, 2003), p.909
13
Sheldon, p.264
14
Radice, p.634
15
Ibid., p.621
16
Don Michael Randel (ed.), The Harvard Dictionary of Music, (Harvard: Harvard University Press,
2003), p.341
10

In the return of the opening, there are several examples of lombardic rhythm, or
scotch snap. This is in keeping with the galant style; Johann Adolph Scheibe
(Compendium musices, 1728-36) provided it as an example of the currently
fashionable galenterie.17 In bar 88, there is an appoggiatura on a D before the trill on
the C; in the 18th century, trills started on the upper note regardless, so perhaps this
was just to emphasise this particular trill.
Bar 93 is the equivalent of 17, but 93 remains instead in the tonic instead of moving to
the dominant. An unprepared suspension begins bar 97; the resolution does not occur
until after a turn around the resolved note, Ab. The rules regarding the treatment of
dissonance were certainly more lax in the galant style than in the Baroque era.18 The
final four bars of this movement begins with a cadential 6/4 into a tonic pedal played
in octaves, like the ending of the exposition.
Like the title suggests, the second movement is a rondo, with form ABACA. The A
section is always identical whenever it is played with no embellishments marked in
the score, though the performer may choose to play it slightly differently to add
variation, possibly by changing the way they play trills or emphasise dissonance.
Theorists at the time suggested that the term 'Galanterie,' when referring to these
embellishments, maybe be notated or improvised by the performer.19 This movement
is slower than the first and in 3/4 time, but it is still in the tonic key, and it has many
of the same features as the first.
In the first bar of the A section, the left hand is based around the bass line made
famous by Alberti; this figure was a "bellwether of galant music for the keyboard."20
A cadential 6/4 in bar 23 marks the end of the first A section. Bar 25 is the first bar of
B. For 3 bars the key is the tonic, Eb, but in 28 a secondary dominant is used to
modulate to Bb major. A naturals are used over the chord of F7 in the left hand, and in
bar 29 we are firmly in Bb major with a restatement of the first theme from the A
section. However, this is not a return of A as after 4 bars the music changes further.
The return of the A section follows a 5 bar extended cadence, like in the first
movement.
In the score, the layout of the music is not in rondo form; there is the A section
followed by B then C, but the A section is not in the score between B and C or after C.
I therefore used 2 different scores and the bar numbers I use relates to a score in
which all A sections are written out. Therefore bars 47 through to 70 are identical to
bars 1 to 24 as this is the same section.
The C section starts in bar 71 with a completely different style of music. There is
constant semiquaver motion for twelve bars, the first four of which are semiquavers
alone with no other parts - these bars are monophonic. Bars 75-79 require a crossing
of hands, a feature commonly used in the galant style.21 Bar 81 is in F minor, 82 is in
G major, and these bars act as a IV, V, I cadence into what seems like a restatement of
17

Sheldon, p.257
Ibid., p.262
19
Daniel Heartz and Bruce Alan Brown. "Galant." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press, accessed February 27, 2014
20
Heartz, Music in European Capitals, p.394
21
Radice, p.636
18

the A section in 83 but in the relative minor, C minor, instead of the tonic which is Eb
major. After 3 bars this restatement does not continue and instead the music changes.
Bar 89 begins with an Italian augmented sixth chord (of C minor). A sense of
repetition "characterises this type of galant context for the augmented sixth."22 The
final bar of this section is bar 93, which leads back into the A section for the third and
final time.
J.C. Bach's piano sonata is a perfect example of the galant style. Almost every feature
that is typical is included in this one sonata; although it was short, it was positively
pleasing to listen to, which surely is the objective of the style.

22

Mark R Ellis, A Chord in Time: The Evolution of the Augmented Sixth from Monteverdi to Mahler,
(Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010), p.86

Bibliography
Books:
J. Peter Burkholder (ed.) A History of Western Music, 8th edn (New York: W.
W. Norton & co., 2008)
Mark R Ellis, A Chord in Time: The Evolution of the Augmented Sixth from
Monteverdi to Mahler, (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010)
Robert Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2007)
Daniel Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720 - 1780,
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2003)
Don Michael Randel (ed.), The Harvard Dictionary of Music, (Harvard:
Harvard University Press, 2003)
Charles Rosen, The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, (New York:
W. W. Norton, 1998)
Richard Taruskin, Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2010)
Daniel Gottlob Trk, School of Clavier Playing, trans. Raymond H. Haggh
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982), 399. In SR 132 (5:11)
Journals:
A. Peter Brown, 'Approaching Music Classicism: Understanding Style and
Style Change in Eighteenth-century Instrumental Music', College Music
Symposium, Vol.20 No.1 (Spring, 1980), pp.7-48
Carl Dahlhaus and Ernest Harriss, 'The Eighteenth Century as a MusicHistorical Epoch', College Music Symposium, Vol.26 (1986), pp.1-6
A. Menhennet, 'Between Baroque and Rococo: The "Galant Style" of
Christian Hlmann', The Modern Language Review, Vol.66 No.2 (Apr., 1971),
pp.343-352
Mark A. Radice, 'The Nature of the "Style Galant": Evidence from the
Repertoire', The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 83 No. 4 (Winter, 1999), pp.607-647
David A. Sheldon, 'The Galant Style Revisited and Re-Evaluated', Acta
Musicologica, Vol.47 Fasc.2 (July - December 1975), pp.240-270
Scores:
Bach, Johann Christian. Six Sonatas for the PianoForte or Harpsichord,
London: Welcker in Gerrard Street St Ann's Soho, 1768
Bach, Johann Christian. Sept Sonatas pour le Clavecin ou Piano-Forte, Tires
des Oeuvres 5 et 12, Paris: L. Farrenc, 1870