Beethoven- Sonata in F minor- Menuetto

The phrasing of this piece is made clear by dynamic contrast and articulation. There are often sudden changes from soft to loud or soft to softer and so on at the end or beginning of different phrases. This also causes a sort of playfulness to the piece. Also, Beethoven’s strategic placement of slurs gives breath to relevant parts of the phrase. In examining the form, I was initially confused because I thought that we were supposed to look at the Menuetto and Trio as a whole. But then it occurred to me that both the Minuetto and Trio stand alone as Binary forms. In the Menuetto, the first 14 measures are expository, state the A section, and modulate to a new key. The first 10 measures of the B section are very similar to the A theme and functions as developmental. Then the next measures are transitional, returning back to the original key in the last five measures. The A theme returns in the Bass clef with slight difference and terminates at the end. It is a bit ambiguous as to whether it is simple or rounded. The Trio, however, is clearly a rounded Binary form. The first eight measures make up the A theme, a modulating period. The material then continues very similarly in the new key before a fast transitional passage. Then the original A theme returns.