In Search of Liberated Time, or Schubert's Quartet in G Major, D. 887: Once More Between Sonata and Variation

At the center of this study is a desire to understand better the distinct temporal quality expressed in the first movement of Schubert's late G-Major Quartet, D. 887. This movement famously amalgamates sonata and variation impulses, a feature that has informed readings of its structure as retrospective, concerned with memory and reminiscence ( <cross-ref type="bib" refid="MTV023C22">Dahlhaus 1986</cross-ref>; <cross-ref type="bib" refid="MTV023C26">Frisch 2000</cross-ref>; and <cross-ref type="bib" refid="MTV023C14">Burnham 2000</cross-ref>). Taking its cue from Dieter Schnebel's 1972 study of time in Schubert's music, this article posits that the first movement of D. 887 (abbreviated hereafter as D. 887/i) displays an array of diverse temporal perspectives that are, at base, functions of recognizable formal devices. Distinct temporalities are revealed analytically via an extended adaptation of William E. Caplin's theory of formal functions. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates that the musical syntax of the movement's grouping structures functions simultaneously on different formal levels and displays what I term “form-functional multiplicity” in the first and second expositional groups as well as a double tonal/thematic trajectory in the development section. Considered in tandem, these hold implications for the articulation of time in the movement as a whole. Ultimately, by uncovering the precise mechanisms behind the temporal vibrancy of this movement, this study illuminates the interaction between Schubert's idiosyncratic formal practices and his music's manipulation of musical time.