Tempesta Rhetoric in the First Movement of Symphony No. 50 in D Minor by Christian Cannabich

Tempesta is the term coined by Clive McClelland (2017) to use as the substitute for Sturm und Drang. The new designation reflects the true origins of the style that grew out of tone-painting techniques in Italian operatic storm scenes from the early seventeenth century, not the influence from German literature. Later in the eighteenth century, the tempesta style exerted a strong influence on the symphony, and Mannheim court composers were among the classical symphonists who incorporated its elements in their symphonies. This research article examines tempesta rhetoric in the first movement of Symphony no. 50 in D minor by Christian Cannabich, one of the leading Mannheim composers. The analysis shows that Cannabich employs many usual tempesta devices such as tirades, off-beat accent, syncopation, driving rhythmic figures, wide melodic leaps, and sudden textural change. Another component that creates intensity and instability is asymmetrical phrase structure. Cannabich also surprises the audience with less common options in eighteenth-century sonata norm such as the lack of transition and the mediant tutti. All of these suggests that this first movement sought to engage listeners with forceful energy and demanded close emotional participation from them.