Charles Morrison
Wilfred Laurier University
In his analysis of the first movement of Bartók's Violin Sonata No. 1, Paul Wilson suggests that Bartók draws on a nineteenth-century model in which the character and function of the development section are radically changed, leaving the latter as more of an A' than a true development. Further, he notes that the recapitulation "loses a good deal of its dramatic force as a return and a release of large-scale tension" as it "becomes a third statement of the exposition material in yet another version."1
In this paper, I use the first movement of the Violin Sonata to demonstrate how and why we might explore a conception of sonata design that employs traditional "formal functions"--typical components such as principal theme, subordinate theme, etc.--but also, and perhaps more importantly, what I and others have termed "structural functions." While the former are components of objective status with relatively fixed identity, the latter are more fluid qualities and, consequently, are more accurate in reflecting the rhetorical quality at any given time during a formal component and especially in reflecting changes of rhetorical properties over time. By exploring the dynamic shape of the movement from the perspective of structural functions, I think we will find ample reasons for understanding and hearing the Bartók as a truly dynamic sonata design, rather than the theme and variations suggested by Wilson's A-A'-A'' characterization.
1 Wilson, Paul. 1993. "Violin Sonatas." In Gillies, Malcolm. The Bartók Companion. London: Faber and Faber Limited.