Eine kleine Nachtmusik, III menuet--Mozart (take 2)

Given the simplicity of this minuet form, and it's very stable and clearly defined periods, it is difficult to break the work down structurally, simply because there isn't much to break down. The first half--expository material in the tonic of G Major-- consists of two repeated, symmetric, eight-measure periods that both terminate with the same last four bars of music. The first repeated period stays on forte dynamics, while the other moves from piano crescendoing to forte. Given that the second repeated period ends with the same material with the first, but distinguishes itself rhythmically in the first four bars of its commencement, I judge it to be a small section of development. The identical endings of the two periods given their trills and lack of any new melodic material (in the first measure of the last four measures, we have a repeat of the initial melodic motif (g a b c)), I would judge them to function as a small cadential section--even though still part of the same period that also contains the expository material.

The trio is in the dominant D major and consists of two repeats--the first an eight bar period, and the second a four measure phrase ending on a half cadence followed by another eight measures ending in a PAC. The first section, I would deem as more expository, since the melodic material is very distinctly different from the first section and introduces a new theme. As for the second twelve-measure grouping, this I think more likely to be the developmental period--given its uneven phrases and the incorporation of the theme from the beginning phrase of the trio. But still the last eight measures are an almost exact repeat of the first period of the trio. It also ends in D, ready to return to the tonic G, so this could help argue for a transitional nomenclature.

It is the simplicity of this work, which for me, makes it difficult to confidently analyze.