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Monday, May 09, 2005

Beethoven Sonata: Op 14, no. 1, III (EM)

This is a very clear example of a Rondo-Sonata form. First we have a sixteen-bar primary section (A) that is a repeated phrase ending on a PAC both times--thus it is sectional. We have approximately 6 measures of transition (which leads us to BM) until we reach the Alternating Section (B). B is a 8m, with two parallel, symmetric four measure phrases. The first ends on a PAC in B, as does the second, though it gets undermined by an A# in the bass moving down to an A natural, suggesting that this B chord is a HC in E. Then it jumps straight back into A, but the second phrase of A changes and acts as an ellision into a small transition into GM, which takes us to the large C (the real development). And this C is considerably larger than any of the individual sections. The ABA formed a sort of sectional binary that did not close but ended open and led into this. At m 82 we've already been dealing with a pedal tone of B for several measures prior, and the d#'s are hinting at an em. Here the piano goes into a long chromatic run ending on a giant half in EM, taking us straight back to A. The return of A is the same, only the transition into B is different, as B is shifted down AM. B ends on a PAC in A that changes into a HC on E. For the final E, we get one phrase of the original 16m--though with different piano texture, and it ends on a HC but doesn't really stop, we get another 4 measures and a nice big HC and then ten measures of a terminative coda.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

how can the first 16 measures be sectional? there is a PAC in the wrong tonic. Shouldn't it be considered continuous?