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Drang and motoric characteristics, it presents a more thorough synthesis
of sentiment and the sublime than the Adagio. Likewise, the tensions
between the conformational and generative aspects of form are more
evenly balanced. Despite its moderate tempo marking, the nale s
phrase structure is based on groups of hypermeasures rather than of
individual bars. The basic unit of organisation is the four-bar hyper-
measure, but Beethoven characteristically treats this with exibility. For
instance, the rst theme ends with a two-bar group (bars 29 30), and the
exposition s closing theme involves metrical expansion and contraction
(six-bar units in bars 67 78, then four-bar units from bar 79 onwards).
There is a plastic, dynamic relationship between foreground details and
the larger patterns that underpin them. Sometimes Beethoven stresses
the underlying processes, at other times expressive detail appears para-
mount, and of course subtle connections between the two layers
abound. In the rst theme, for example, bars 0 8 outline a leisurely treble
ascent from d2 to f2 (thereby reversing the pattern of the rst four semi-
quavers). Next the treble seems repeatedly to strive for some unattain-
ably high goal, before sinking back each time to its original level. In bar 8
it grasps at d3, but in the following three bars it falls back through a series
of thirds (with a Neapolitan bass in ection in bar 10), before cadencing
on d2 at bar 15. Again in bar 16 it grasps (now more urgently) at d3, again
it sinks in the subsequent bars. So far the larger picture has been more
signi cant than the a ective foreground detail, despite the expressive
intensity of details like the juxtaposed E and A chords in bars 10 11.
However, in the theme s closing period the details claim far more atten-
tion: the semiquaver perpetuum mobile is disrupted by two octave leaps in
the treble, the rst from a1 to a2 (bar 23) and the second from d2 to d3 (bar
27). And both these upward striving gestures are answered by chro-
matic melodic descents in bars 24 and 28. Thus the foreground details
can be perceived here as a re ection of the theme s underlying patterns.
Finally, Beethoven s treatment of the highest treble note, d3, illustrates a
111
The Moonlight and other Sonatas
more complex interaction of musical detail and underlying form. In each
successive striving gesture, d3 shifts forward towards a metrically
stronger part of the bar: from the last semiquaver (bar 8), to the last
quaver (bar 16), the second quaver (bar 27), and eventually at the very
end of theme in bar 31 to the beginning of the bar.
At the theme s nal cadence, the treble s melodic close on d3 is elided
with the start of the transition passage. While Beethoven has hitherto
checked the theme s tendency to become angry, the full rage of the Sturm
und Drang style is unleashed here. The head-motive is taken into the
lowest possible bass register at bar 30, leading to a d G7 C progression
over the next eight bars. This pattern begins to repeat a tone lower from
bar 38, but in bar 42 the seventh chord on F is replaced by its enharmonic
equivalent, an augmented sixth, which resolves to E (V/V) in the next
bar.
The wrench to V/a breaks the established thematic pattern, and the
next twenty- ve bars seem to return to the processual style of the rst
movement. Beginning on an unstable rst-inversion dominant in bar 43,
the music makes repeated attempts to close, but closure is compromised
by elision (bar 51), and thwarted by interruption (bars 59 and 63).
Although the period concludes with a perfect cadence at bar 67, even this
is undermined by the sudden drop from forte to piano. Motivically, too,
this section looks back to the rst movement, with its melodic emphasis
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on 6 5 patterns (f2 e2 in bars 43 8, etc.). There is, however, a stronger
relationship between bars 43 51 and the Allegretto s head-motive: the
repeated f2 e2 motive makes an obvious reference to the anacrusis in bar
0; more subtly, in bars 47 51 the treble lls in the leap from a1 to f2 which
launched the movement. Closure having been achieved in bar 67, the rest
of the exposition repeats A minor cadences and builds up to a ferocious
Sturm und Drang climax at bar 87. A diminished seventh on C swings
the music back towards D minor at bar 91, and in the next four bars the
treble climbs through the sixth a1 f2 to lead back to bar 1.
Beethoven s most striking compositional experiment in the develop-
ment section is his unrelenting focus on a single rhythmic pattern.
Variety stems from the larger patterns created by contrasts in texture,
dynamics, pitch motives, and harmonic pacing. In broad terms the
development may be interpreted as a slow neighbour-note progression
(Example 6.6), moving from A at the end of the exposition to B minor
112
The design of the Op. 31 sonatas
Example 6.6 Op. 31/2/iii Harmonic outline of the development section
(bars 131 60) and back to A (=V/d) at bar 169. This plan is elaborated
into four distinct sections.
(1) (bars 85 110) Four-bar hypermeasures of piano and forte alter-
nate. Sequentially, diminished sevenths are created and resolved, sup-
ported by an ascending chromatic bass (f a) that takes the music
through G minor to A minor.
(2) (bars 110 50) From bars 110 34 the texture changes every eight
bars: rst the bass leads (bars 110 18), next the treble (bars 118 26), and
so on. As in section 1, diminished sevenths are created and resolved.
Though the arpeggio gures give the bass a greater mobility here, they
are underpinned by a slower bass descent in whole tones from g to d ,
passing through D minor and C minor to B minor. In bars 134 50 B
minor is grounded as a local tonic as the bass rises from d to b . From bar
143 the harmony changes every two bars, and there is a crescendo to fortis-
simo, driving the music towards its next goal, the start of the third
section.
(3) (bars 150 73) With a sudden drop to piano the main theme is
reprised in B minor. But after eight bars the bass seems to get stuck on
B , while the treble rises chromatically from f2 to g 2, producing an aug-
mented sixth in bar 168. This resolves to A in the next bar, and is fol-
lowed by a series of imperfect cadences, all marked with o -beat sforzati.
(4) (bars 173 214) The retransition essentially a V upbeat to the
recapitulation is unusually long and harmonically rich. Both [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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