Recurrence of Motives in Handels Sonata No.

2 in G minor, Allegro
By Aditya Nirvaan Ranganathan
Handels manipulation of motives, through superposition, repetition,
and modification, is in my mind the most captivating aspect of this
piece. On a macro level, this piece is in Simple Binary form, with each
section of nearly identical length (18 and 19 bars.) Since the
instruments are equally dominant and contrapuntal, the texture is
active.
The most pervasive motive in this movement is the Alberti bass figure
ie. the 16th note arpeggiated triad, used in both instruments. Since
each figure is structured middle/highest/lowest/highest note, one can
recognized distinct voices as the pattern repeats and ascends. The top
note can be considered the soprano, the bottom the bass, and the
middle the alto/tenor. This makes for a very interesting superposition of
sub-melodies within one melody line (composed of a phrase of Alberti
bass figures) with emphasis on the (repeated) soprano sub-melody
line.
This harmonic pattern is broken in the B section, where the motive is
altered to include non-harmonic tones. The mild dissonance this
creates helps build up tension for the climax of the piece the point at
which the violin and continuo are both playing their fastest rhythms,
and the violin reaches its zenith.
Moreover, since this motive fills up the bulk of the middle portions of
both sections of the piece, breaking the entire motive leads to a
special event. For example, a Perfect Authentic Cadence, the climax,
and the set-up for the final cadence.
The Alberti bass motive is protracted from 16th notes to 8th notes in
both sections of the piece. This leads to a musical idea that is a larger
unit, encompassing multiple motives. In section A, this idea is
expressed through interplay between the violin and continuo one
instrument plays the 16th note motive, while the other plays the 8th
note motive, and they switch in the next phrase.
In section B, this idea is expressed in an altered manner the modified
8th note motive, performed only by the continuo, contains many
passing and neighbor tones. The listener can recognize the musical
idea from section A, but can make out that the idea is harmonically
different. This takes the listener on a journey they are presented with
related, but modified musical ideas, which gives the piece direction.
Another obvious motive is the opening of each section. The rhythm is
kept constant in both sections, establishing a connection between the
two. The first three notes are also identical, but after that sections A

and B differ substantially. This modified recurrence of the opening

motive, similar to how Handel treats the Alberti bass motive, makes
the listener connect but differentiate the two sections.
To conclude, it is clear that material-wise, this piece boils down to
essentially four motives (one not discussed in this essay.) However,
Handel has manipulated these motives in a very subtle but dynamic
manner, resulting in an exciting and engaging Allegro movement.