Beethoven’s sonata form reenacts tonality as a self-evident, self-confirming law

Evidence

Moreover, the sonata itself is proof of a kind of dialectic inherent in the musical experience, whereby this ontological relationship to the tone finds its fulfillment in that unfolding in time, in that temporal process and movement toward a future plentitude, which we know as musical form. Thus music is profoundly Utopian, both in its form and in its content. — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 275 (#expands, via linked claim)

Great philosophical systems, such as those of Plato and Aristotle, scholasticism, and German idealism were founded on an objective theory of reason. It aimed at evolving a comprehensive system, or hierarchy, of all beings, including man and his aims. The degree of reasonableness of a man’s life could be determined according to its harmony with this totality. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1457 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Freedom from tonality dialectically generates its own stricter new law — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 76; Beethoven’s achievement was a historical equilibrium between subjective melody and objective form. — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 94; Musical form’s temporal unfolding embodies a dialectic toward future plenitude — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 275 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Musical form’s temporal unfolding embodies a dialectic toward future plenitude #expands (0.78) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 275
• The violin’s tone embodies the Cartesian lyric subject and its suppression marks postindividualism #complicates (0.72) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 52
• Twelve-tone technique is domination of nature within music #responds-to (0.72)
• Classical philosophy founded reason on harmony with a totality #expands (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1457