Wohlfahrt Op. 45 no. 34 mm. 37-38

October 22, 2025, 9:04 AM · Following as I think it is interesting.
Just one thing, which I'm sure you may have thought of already. Depending on the edition publisher you are using, it may just be an error.

Edited: October 23, 2025, 7:09 AM · I'd say leave it alone - Wohlfahrt wasn't Bach.

I think making it chromatic creates harmonic instability, so that there's insufficient time to imply the A7 resolving to D. Wohlfahrt's harmonic progressions are simplistic.

Taking something that's OK and trying to make it OKer is a common human weakness. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Actually it reminds me of the Bach cello prelude. But Bach's [chromatic?] ascent climaxes on the tonic, not on the anticlimactic dominant.

October 22, 2025, 10:30 AM · Although I no longer have my edition of Wohlfahrt, I’d have to agree with the OP.

The ascending chromatic line makes much more sense as a musical line than repeated Gs. It’s reminiscent of another passage from the Romantic showpiece literature. I’m trying to think of what it is—I can hear it in my head, either Saint-Saens (Capricious Rondo?) or Wieniawski.

By the way, what’s the difference between a large pizza and a music theory PhD?
The Pizza can feed a family of four!

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

October 22, 2025, 10:34 AM · Thanks for the replies.

Jake, on IMSLP I found the 1905 version, which seems to be the basis of the excerpt that I uploaded. (I chose that one because of the measure numbers).

Andrew, that's a great point about the Bach cello prelude resolving to tonic instead of here, which is to the dominant. Upon further look and bearing your observation about the harmonic instability in mind, it looks like Wohlfahrt is emphasizing a G melodic minor since after the Eb comes E, F#, G. However, given the down beat placement of the Eb, I was hearing mm. 37-38 instead as a Neapolitan (bII), which resolves to V in mm. 39-40, which in turn falls a fifth to tonic and the recap (ABA') in m. 41.
And point well taken about "if it ain't Baroque, don't fix it." :-)

October 22, 2025, 10:36 AM · @ Scott, LOL! I love it! I usually say, "With my Ph.D. and $4.00 I can get a bus ride to the next city; in other words, it's useless and has no value!" But I'll have to remember the pizza joke! :-)

October 23, 2025, 12:23 AM · I don't know what this has to do with Bach. This isn't Bach. Don't overthink it.

I suddenly realized, while walking the dog, where a similar passage occurs: It's not Saint-Saens, but Wieniawski Concerto 2.

October 23, 2025, 1:38 AM · @Scott, here's the reason for the comparison. In J.S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, movement 1, he wrote a "compound melody," which is common in the Baroque, but also happens in Mozart (classical) and Schubert (romantic). Thus, compound melody appears to be one of the common [compositional] practices of the common practice era.

Bach fills the upper tetrachord chromatically, unlike Wohlfahrt.

And now, the comparison between Bach and Wohlfahrt becomes very interesting as both occur in measures 37 and 38!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/203769393@N08

Is this be a mere coincidence, or could it be Wohlfahrt's allusion to J.S. Bach's Cello Suite?

Edited: October 23, 2025, 6:54 AM · It is an etude, and an unexpected progression with an unexpected whole step and note repetition is as much a good exercise as the thing you would expect!

October 23, 2025, 7:53 AM · Apart from truncated versions in Doflein's Method, I have never proposed Wohlfahrt's studies: they have little harmonic or tonal value, and deaden the mind rather than stimulating it...

Discuss?

Edited: October 23, 2025, 8:34 AM · @Adrian, I don't have a strong opinion on Wohlfahrt, other than a vaguely negative one - he seems too basic most of the time, but perhaps I've never looked at his advanced works. I prefer Sitt, but I don't think my teacher cares much for Sitt. And perhaps you find him even more mind-numbing than W. And perhaps none of Sitt is very advanced either.

October 23, 2025, 9:47 AM · @ Jean, you're exactly right about the didactic nature of this and other etudes. I suppose I didn't expect this little surprise of a repeated note.

@ Adrian, I think many repetitive things can be stultifying including this etude potentially. That's where the creative teacher should step in. In terms of there being "little harmonic or tonal value," given that Op. 45 comes from 1877, Wohlfahrt's harmonic language does not match that of Wagner or Liszt. However, I would if we would pause in the middle of the piece and ask our students to sing tonic if they could. In other words, I think there might be tonal value in developing long range hearing in our students. Certainly this or any other monotonal etude would do the trick.

@ Andrew I'm a clarinentist so I am familiar with the Rose 32 Etudes but not those of Stitt.

In general, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a composer and a composer's compositions if they survive the test of time, which in this case (Op. 45) is almost a century and a half.

For what it's worth, our son's teacher paired up this etude with the finale of Rieding's Concertino Op. 25. They are both in D major, both from the late nineteenth century (OK, Rieding is 1907, but very conservative in harmonic terms).

So in closing, it seems from my perspective at least that Wohlfahrt and Rieding composed music that survives today because it was primarily intended for a pedagogical function. So as Jean suggested above, perhaps there is some sort of pedagogical or technical reason for the repeated Gs.

October 23, 2025, 9:51 AM · I was referring to Sitt's Op. 32, but
he's more prolific than I realised.

October 23, 2025, 10:32 AM · Ok, so you found a similar passage in Bach. But that has no bearing on Wohlfahrt—you’re just exploiting a coincidence, maybe to support the theory analysis for which you’ve twisted yourself in a pretzel.

I maintain that the chromatic line, not the repeated Gs, has more musical and pedagogical advantage.

October 23, 2025, 11:24 AM · I'm more like a breadstick.

October 23, 2025, 1:28 PM · By "little harmonic or tonal value" I refer to poor harmonic progressions and no sense of form. Etudes are musical compositions, and as well as their violinist content they should educate harmonic sense and direction, even if their expressive content is limited.
For example Ludwig Spohr's Method contains what I would call "real" music while having a technical purpose.

October 23, 2025, 1:57 PM · @ Adrian, as a clarinetist I'm a bit familiar with Spohr's clarinet concerti, so I think I understand what you mean (and agree with you) about his music being more musical.

But what do you mean by "poor harmonic progressions?" Do you mean they are not chromatic, innovative, adventurous? And what do you mean by "no sense of form?" That the form is not clearly delineated or that it is not innovative?

It looks to me like from a quick back of the envelope calculation that Op. 45 no. 34 has the following form.

A B A' Coda
mm. 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-28 29-32 33-40 41-48 49-55

I-V I-V I-I BVI V7/ bIV V I-V I IV V64 I
D Bb D7 Gm A D A D G A D

So a middle section in the flat submediant is typical of nineteenth century harmony, so it instills in the student normative tonal movement.
And even the initial idea of I53 I64 I53 has smooth parsimonious voice leading.

So as a music theorist, I can't ding Wohlfahrt for any voice leading errors or errors of harmonic syntax or muddled form based on unusual harmonic regions. To me Op. 45 no. 34 is a pleasant piece packed with pedagogical value. But I'm not a Wohlfahrt apologist! I would be happy to look at some of his more problematic works if violinists would like to send me their findings.

Thanks!