Considerations on the genesis of the theories of form between Classicism and Romanticism (1790-1845)

Abstract

The paper analyses the apparition of the notion of “form” and of neighbour notions such
as “motive”, “phrase” and “period” in the musical thought of the period between 1790
and 1845. The theorists considered include mainly (but not exclusively) H. Chr. Koch, A.
Reicha, A. B. Marx, J.-J. de Momigny and J. Chr. Lobe, as well as G. Weber, C. Czerny
and S. Sechter. The notion of form stems from several models: periodic, hierarchic or
evolutive. The neighbour notions of motive, phrase, sentence (proposition) and period,
occasionally found from 1755 onwards, progressively become stabilised in the early 19th
century. They describe an arborescent structure formed of integrated units.