Evaluating Schenkerian Analysis as a Complement to Sonata Theory, Formal Functions and Italian Schemata

The following essay argues that Caplin, Gjerdingen, and Hepokoski and Darcy explicitly and implicitly borrow ideas from the works of Heinrich Schenker while simultaneously relegating Schenkerian concepts, making anti-Schenkerian protests, and opposing certain Schenkerian interpretations in their own work. It also proposes that Schenkerian analysis can be used as a complement to the three aforementioned approaches. The first part demonstrates that Caplin’s terminology and hierarchical conception of musical form invites accompanying Schenkerian graphs. The second part suggests that Schenker, in his 1923 analysis of the first movement of Mozart’s K 545, noticed a schema similar to Gjerdingen’s Prinner. The third part contends that a Schenkerian interpretation of K 545 by Snyder aligns with Hepokoski and Darcy’s Type 2 sonata. The conclusion takes note of recent significant developments in field of Schenkerian studies that promote a healthy engagement with other theories.