It is important to understand why Trio Sonata in D, Op. 3, No. 2: movement IV is a baroque piece of music. Below are the reasons why this piece is baroque. You may also want to look at the article The Baroque Period.
- It has a polyphonic texture (as well as polarised and contrapuntal) which was common in the baroque period.
- It uses terraced dynamics: there are no crescendos or diminuendos. It is either loud or soft.
- There is the use of ornamentations and decorations such as trills and mordants: especially in the repeats of each section of the piece.
- Trio Sonata uses the standard instrumentation for a baroque trio sonata being 2 Violins, 1 Cello and 1 Harpsichord.
- It has a simple structure being binary form (AB) with repeats of each section.
- It has simple modulations to related keys (D major which modulates to the dominant A major). There is the use of the tonic and dominant key relationships.
- There is one mood through the movement.
- The harmony is diatonic.
- The chords are in root position and are only occasionally in first inversion.
- Melodies are conjunctive occasional disjunctive.
- There is the use of balanced phrasings (4 bars followed by 4 bars).
- The lively rhythms drive the music forward.
- It has a driving and lively walking bass.
