Рет қаралды 919,707
Beethoven’s last Op.31 sonata is one of the most warm, big-hearted, lyrical things he wrote. It’s the second-last sonata in 4 movements (the last is the Hammerklavier), and it contains no slow movements. (Also worth noting that 3 of them are in full-fledged sonata form!)
The first movement is a total delight to listen to: from the surprising harmony that opens the piece, to the richly textured chordal response and the theme group that grows out of it, the repeated recollections of the sort-of-motivic-introduction that begins the work (cf the Pathetique!), & the wonderful soaring thing that is the second theme, all air and light.
The second movement is one of my all-time favourites: it’s hilarious & a total earworm. Everything comes together so well: the bassoon-like bass, the off-beat accents, the absurd little held F across bars 2&3, the violent contrasts and semidemiquaver-against-semiquaver textures in the second theme, those repeated Cs that sound like the performer has had a disastrous memory slip.
The third movement is the last minuet movement Beethoven ever wrote: after this sonata it looked like the form didn’t quite have enough dramatic potential for him, although what we have here is a real nice example of Beethoven’s ability to write a beautiful melody when he really wanted to.
The last movement is full of rhythmic swagger: from the tarantella-like first idea, to the vigorously funny second, to the insistent third, & the suddenly coruscating textures (almost Waldstein-like) that suddenly emerge, everything comes together perfectly in an utterly natural expression of pure joy.
MVT I, Allegro
EXPOSITION
00:00 - Theme Group 1, quasi-introduction (two motifs: a dotted-rhythm falling 5th and four chords, three short following by one long). Note recurrence through movement.
00:26 - “Main Entrance” of Theme 1 (developing the two motifs just introduced)
00:45 - Transition, following the quasi-introduction
01:02 - Theme Group 2, Theme 2
01:25 - Theme Group 2, Theme 3
01:46 - Codetta
DEVELOPMENT
03:55 - Development of quasi-introduction, landing on C min at 4:02
04:07 - Falling 5th motif
04:11 - Theme 1, in C
04:21 - A distinctly orchestral variation on Theme 1, emphasizing the three-short-one-long motif with gently muted dissonances in the bass. Modulation to F. Note also that the run at 4:28 (and similar passages) borrows from the arpeggiated flourish in Theme 3
04:38 - Modulation, which
04:48 - lands on an F min chord, in turn revealed as
RECAPITULATION
04:54 - the supertonic chord of Eb maj, thus ushering back the quasi-introduction
05:38 - Theme Group 2 enters, this time without a transition
06:32 - We get the original codetta, which sounds like it’s bringing things to a close, but this only leads to the real
CODA
06:42 - The quasi-introduction, this time implying Ab maj
06:51 - The dominant seventh harmony signals a new harmonic twist
07:01 - which seems to lead back to familiar territory. The quasi-introduction seems to be repeated normally, but
07:19 - instead pauses, and leads to a lovely closing passage.
MVT II, Scherzo: Allegretto vivace
07:40 - Theme 1
08:23 - Theme 2
08:41 - Theme 3 (or an extended cadence, if you like)
DEVELOPMENT
10:11 - The music slips into C maj
10:14 - Theme 1
10:21 - Theme 2, in Bb min, modulating into C min
10:36 - Theme 1
10:40 - Variation on Theme 1, with glissando-like passages
RECAPTULATION
11:06 - Theme 1
11:30 - More voices are added into Theme 1
11:50 - Theme 2, appearing in a rather shocking key
12:08 - Theme 3
12:05 - CODA
MVT III, Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso
12:33 - Menuet, Part A
13:04 - Menuet, Part B
13:33 - Trio, Part A
14:01 - Trio, Part B
14:51 - Menuet, Part A
15:35 - Menuet, Part B
15:50 - Coda
MVT IV, Presto con fuoco
EXPOSITION
16:11 - Theme 1, Part 1
16:18 - Theme 1, Part 2
16:32 - Theme 2
16:50 - Theme 3 (Or extended cadence)
DEVELOPMENT
17:50 - Theme 1 Part 2, in Gb
17:58 - Theme 1 Part 2, reduction, in F#
18:01 - Transition to B min, beginning of modulating sequence. G maj, C min, Ab maj (VI of C min), Db maj (Neapolitan of C min), V7 of C min/maj, then C maj
18:16 - Theme 1 Part 2, in C
18:21 - Introduction of diminished 7th harmony, modulation
18:32 - Recollection of figuration from Theme 2. Ab, F min, Bb V7 chords.
RECAPITULATION
18:49 - Theme 1, with rhythmic gaps now filled in
19:09 - Surprising shift to Gb maj
19:13 - Theme 2, in Gb
19:31 - Theme 3, which at first refuses to modulate, further establishing Gb
19:38 - Theme 3 slips into Eb min
19:45 - We arrive at V7 of Eb min, also V7 of Eb maj, so arrive at the
CODA
19:55 - Theme 1, in LH (but jumping all over the keyboard) modulating to F min and Ab maj
20:12 - A nice little sequence: pause on a dramatic diminished 7th chord, Theme 1 Part 1 in stretto, an elaboration on the LH texture of T1, and then another pause on a diminished 7th
20:21 - Theme 1 Part 1 in stretto, fragmented, then transformed into a chromatic elaboration on the V7, and then the final cadence.
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