On Figaro’s Alleged Minuet and Some Challenges and Opportunities of Topic Theory

Abstract Wye Allanbrook (1983) famously observed a humorous allusion to the minuet style in the aria “Se vuol ballare” from Le Nozze di Figaro. This article provides a close reading of the opening measures of Figaro’s cavatina, investigating how this music may or may not have elicited associations with minuet music for Mozart’s intended audience. A close comparison of the musical features of “Se vuol ballare”—including phrase structure, hypermeter, and rhythm—with those of danceable minuets of the time will show that Mozart’s tune is anything but a prototypical member of the category. Instead of (or in addition to) a minuet, historical listeners might have perceived an allusion to another familiar dance: the contredanse. Such an association would have triggered different ideas about social class and afforded an alternative ironic reading of the passage. By challenging a widely accepted interpretation, this case study addresses the broader issue of how to identify topics (as a cognitive process of categorization) and explores avenues for practicing topical analysis in increasingly transparent and historically sensitive ways.