Listen to the first movement of Beethoven's "Pathetique” Sonata, and give at least two examples of the composer writing extreme contrasting opposites in a musical element, as described in the reading guide.Just give a quick example, and a time stamp of where you heard the contrasting elements on the recording.
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The Pathétique begins in C minor with an intense, slow introduction, dominated by an opening motive in dotted rhythm: long-short-long-short-long-long.
Slow introduction
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This six-note idea seems to pose a series of unresolved questions as it is repeated on higher and higher pitch levels. The tragic mood is intensified by dissonant chords, sudden contrasts of dynamics and register, and pauses filled with expectancy. The slow introduction is integrated in imaginative and dramatic ways into the allegro that follows it.
The tension of the introduction is maintained in the allegro con brio, a breathless, fast movement in sonata form. The opening theme, in C minor, begins with a staccato idea that rapidly rises up a two-octave scale. It is accompanied by low broken octaves, the rapid alternation of two tones an octave apart.
First theme
1:41
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Growing directly out of the opening theme is a bridge that is also built from a climbing staccato motive.
Bridge motive
1:57
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This bridge motive has an important role later in the movement.
The contrasting second theme, which enters without a pause, is spun out of a short motive that is repeatedly shifted between low and high registers.
Second theme
2:08
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This restless idea begins in E flat minor but then moves through different keys. The exposition is rounded off by several themes, including a high running passage and a return of the opening staccato idea in E flat major.
High running passage
2:53
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The development section begins with a dramatic surprise: Beethoven brings back the opening bars of the slow introduction. This reappearance creates an enormous contrast of tempo, rhythm, and mood. After four bars of slow music, the fast tempo resumes as Beethoven combines two different ideas: the staccato bridge motive and a quickened version of the introduction motive. The introduction motive is presented in a rhythmically altered form: short-short-short-long-long.
Development
3:11
Bridge introduction motives combined
3:54
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The bridge motive is then developed in the bass, played by the pianist’s left hand while the right hand plays high broken octaves. After several high accented notes, the brief development concludes with a running passage that leads down to the recapitulation.
For a while, the recapitulation runs its usual course as themes from the exposition are presented in the tonic key of C minor. But Beethoven has one more surprise for the coda—after a loud dissonant chord and a brief pause, he again brings back the opening of the slow introduction. This time the slow music is even more moving, as it is punctuated by moments of silence. Then the fast tempo resumes, and the opening staccato idea and powerful chords bring the movement to a decisive close.
Recapitulation
4:34
Opening of slow introduction
5:51
Second Movement: Adagio cantabile (lyrical adagio)
Listening Outline: Beethoven, Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathetique), II
Listen: Beethoven, Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathetique), II
The second movement, in A flat major, is slow, intimate, and songlike. It is in rondo form and may be outlined A B A C A—coda. The legato main theme (A), played in the piano’s rich middle register, is one of Beethoven’s most lyrical melodies.
Section A
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This melody is immediately repeated an octave higher with fuller harmony.
Section B
1:11
Section C
2:42
Return of Section A
3:44
Section B is also legato and maintains the opening mood while introducing a new accompaniment of repeated chords. Section C is a duet between tender legato phrases in the top part and more animated staccato replies in the bass. This section brings some contrast with a shift to minor, a powerful crescendo, and a triplet rhythm in the accompaniment. On its last return, the main melody sounds more flowing, because it is now accompanied by a rocking figure in triplet rhythm. The movement is rounded off by a poetic coda that descends leisurely to soft concluding chords.
Third Movement: Rondo (Allegro)
Listening Outline: Beethoven, Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathetique), III
Listen: Beethoven, Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathetique), III
The last movement, in C minor, is a rapid and energetic rondo. It is outlined A B A C A B A—coda. The lively main theme (A), in minor, contrasts with the other sections, which are in major.
Section A
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The B section includes several lyrical themes. The C section is polyphonic and contains ideas that are shifted from one hand to the other. Sections B and C both end with a sustained dominant chord that creates expectancy for the return of the main theme and key. Toward the end of the stormy coda, a sustained chord is followed unexpectedly by the opening notes of the main theme, in major rather than minor.
Section B
0:25
Section C
1:26
End of coda
3:50
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But the consolation of major is brief, as a rapid downward scale brings the movement to a powerful close in C minor.
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (1808)
The Fifth Symphony opens with one of the most famous rhythmic ideas in all music, a short-short-short-long motive. Beethoven reportedly explained this four-note motive as “fate knocking at the door.” It dominates the first movement and also plays an important role later in the symphony. The entire work can be seen as an emotional progression from the conflict and struggle of the first movement, in C minor, to the exultation and victory of the final movement, in C major. The finale is the climax of the symphony; it is longer than the first movement and more powerful in sound.
Through several different techniques, Beethoven brilliantly welds four contrasting movements into a unified work. The basic rhythmic motive of the first movement (short-short-short-long) permeates the symphony. It is prominent in a marchlike theme in the third movement. And this third-movement theme is later quoted dramatically within the finale. The last two movements are also connected by a bridge passage.
Beethoven jotted down a few themes for the Fifth Symphony in 1804 but mainly worked on it during 1807 and 1808, an amazingly productive period when he also composed his Mass in C Major; Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 69; and Symphony No. 6.
First Movement: Allegro con brio (allegro with vigor)
The allegro con brio is an enormously powerful and concentrated movement in sonata form. Its character is determined by a single rhythmic motive, short-short-short-long, from which Beethoven creates an astonishing variety of musical ideas. Tension and expectation are generated from the very beginning of the movement. Three rapid notes of the same pitch are followed by a downward leap to a held, suspenseful tone. This powerful idea is hammered out twice by all the strings in unison; the second time, it is a step lower in pitch.
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As the opening theme continues in C minor, Beethoven maintains excitement by quickly developing his basic idea. He crowds varied repetitions of the motive together and rapidly shifts the motive to different pitches and instruments.
The second theme, in E flat major, dramatically combines different ideas. It begins with an unaccompanied horn call that asserts the basic motive in a varied form (short-short-short-long-long-long).
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This horn-call motive announces a new legato melody, which is calm and contrasts with the preceding agitation. Yet even during this lyrical moment, we are not allowed to forget the basic motive; now it is muttered in the background by cellos and double basses.
Beethoven generates tension in the development section by breaking the horn-call motive into smaller and smaller fragments until it is represented by only a single tone. Supported by a chord, this tone is echoed between woodwinds and strings in a breathtaking decrescendo. The recapitulation comes as a tremendous climax as the full orchestra thunders the basic motive. The recapitulation also brings a new expressive oboe solo at the end of the first theme. The heroic closing section of the recapitulation, in C major, moves without a break into a long and exciting coda in C minor. This coda is like a second development section in which the basic motive creates still greater power and energy.
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