sonatas before that were
simply short pieces, so designated to distinguish them from
dance music). This sonata was published about 1730, and was one
of nine. The first movement is practically of the _allemande_
type, and its first period ends in the dominant key. There
is but the slightest trace of a second theme in the first
part; yet the improvement in contrapuntal design over the
suites is evident. The second movement is in the same key,
and retains the characteristic rhythm of the _sarabande_;
at the end, the improvement, so far as design is concerned,
is very noticeable. The last movement, still in the same key,
is a _gigue_, thus keeping well in the shadow of the suite.

A sonata by the German Rolle (1718-1785) is valuable in that
it shows a very decided second theme in the first period,
thus tending toward the development of the original simple
dance form into the more complex sonata form. The _adagio_,
however, still has the _sarabande_ characteristics, and
foreshadows many things. It contains many _words_ that later
were shaped into great poems by others. "The Erlking" of
Schubert is especially hinted at, just as the first movement
was prophetic of Beethoven. In the last movement we have the
_gigue_ rhythm again.

In France, music had become merely a court appendage, as was
the case with the other arts, and had long served as a means
for showing the divine grace with which Louis XIV or XV could
turn out his toes in the minuet. In addition to this, the
arranging of a scientific system of harmonization by Rameau
(1683-1764) (which, by the way, is the basis of most of the
treatises of harmony of the present century), caused the few
French composers who could make headway against the prevailing
Italian opera after Lully to turn their attention away from
polyphonic writing; and having, after all, but little to
express in other than the long-accustomed dance rhythms and
tunes, their music cannot be said to have made any mark in
the world. In order to show the poverty of this style, let
us take a sonata by Mehul (1763-1817). The first movement
has already a well-defined second theme, but otherwise is
a mere collection of more or less commonplace progressions.
The second part is a dance tune, pure and simple; indeed the
first part had all the characteristics of the _farandole_
(see Bizet's "l'Arlesienne"). The last part is entitled rondo,
"a round dance," and is evidently one in the literal sense of
the word. In