The Loosening Role of Polyphony: Texture and Formal Functions in Mozart’s “Haydn” Quartets

Abstract

This essay demonstrates that texture can act as a form-defining factor by focusing on one specific textural type: imitative polyphony. Mozart’s six quartets dedicated to Haydn illustrate this claim. Building on William Caplin’s form-functional theory and his distinction between tight-knit and loose organization, imitative texture is shown to serve two purposes: as a loosening device, and as a means of textural and phrase-structural contrast. To deepen our understanding of polyphony’s formal and expressive roles, two new concepts are proposed: contrast pair and imitative presentation. The contrast-pair principle is then explored in select Viennese quartets by Mozart’s contemporaries.