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Abstract:
In their groundbreaking treatment of 18th-century sonata types, James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy discuss normative High Classical concerto designs in detail; however, they say very little about the Romantic-era concerto. They do briefly mention that through the 19th century, the concerto type (their Type 5) gradually merges with the “textbook sonata” prototype (Type 3), but they decline to elaborate upon this observation, since it involves repertoire that lies outside the stylistic boundaries of their study (Hepokoski and Darcy 435ff.). I seek to explore their claim further and, at the same time, pave the way for further scholarship on the later Romantic piano concerto literature, which has, to date, received scant analytical attention.
Since 19th- and 20th-century Italian composers are sometimes categorized as musically conservative, I will turn my attention to two Italian piano concerti, my reasoning being that such “old-fashioned” repertory should, consequently, reveal more clearly which structural norms were still viable at that time. In addition, since their instrumental repertoire of this period is underrepresented in modern analytical discourse, my paper serves to address this gap. I will engage with Hepokoski and Darcy’s ideas as they pertain to the first movements of two piano concerti by Giovanni Sgambati (op. 15 in G minor, 1880) and Giuseppe Martucci (op. 66 in B-flat minor, 1885). I will then compare the placement and functions of each movement’s deformational features (particularly relating to issues of cadence), thereby uncovering structural commonalities that merit further inquiry.
My goals for this study are twofold: to initiate scholarly dialogue about the largely unstudied music of late 19th-century Italy, and also, more broadly, to build upon Hepokoski and Darcy’s work by contributing to more specific definitions—and, in turn, a clearer understanding—of 19th-century solo concerto forms.
Keywords: Giovanni Sgambati, Giuseppe Martucci, concerto, form, sonata, deformation, theory, Hepokoski, Darcy, analysis, piano, Italian instrumental music, Romantic