1st mvt: An Exposition in Constant Upward Motion

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From the course by Curtis Institute of Music

Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Part 2

65 ratings

Curtis Institute of Music

Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Part 2

65 ratings

Welcome to Part 2 of Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas! I'm delighted to launch another set of new lectures of this course as Part 2. As before, this class is meant for people of all levels of experience with Beethoven's music (including no experience at all!). Remember that you are able to watch the lectures as many times as you like, at whatever pace is comfortable for you. As I’ve done with the first set of Beethoven lectures, I look forward to meeting with students—online and in person, in various cities. The dates and locations will be posted in the Announcements and Events section, as part of the course content. So please remember to check back there for details. In these four new lectures, we will explore the following sonatas: • Sonata Op. 2, No. 3 • Sonata Op. 13 (“Pathetique”) • Sonata Op. 53 (“Waldstein”) • Sonata Op. 90 The Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation supports Curtis’s lifelong learning initiatives.

From the lesson

Op. 13, "Pathetique"

The course continues with Beethoven's Op. 13 Sonata, nicknamed the "Pathétique." Known for its high drama and pathos, the "Pathétique" is a gem from Beethoven's early period and is one of Beethoven's most popular piano sonatas. In this lecture, Mr. Biss uncovers how Beethoven achieves these intense characters within the context of a classical sonata.

A Groundbreaking, Overexposed Masterwork4:02

1st mvt: The Slow Introduction as a Major Addition to Sonata Form6:46

1st mvt: An Exposition in Constant Upward Motion8:44

1st mvt: The Introduction's Complex, Revolutionary Role9:16

1st mvt: Subverting Expectations until the Bitter End5:56

2nd mvt: Beethoven at his most Sublimely Lyrical9:47

2nd mvt: The Emotional Power of Structural Simplicity7:03

3rd mvt: Introducing an Element of Ambiguity3:23

3rd mvt: Tying the Movement to the Rest of the Work, Devastatingly10:15

Meet the Instructors

Jonathan Biss
Neubauer Family Chair in Piano Studies
Performance Faculty

(MUSIC)

It is also a perfect example of Beethoven’s unparalleled capacity for using silence

to heighten tension.

The opening three phrases each begin with brutal, sforzando chords – shocks, and then

aftershocks – and the first two end with questioning rests.

(MUSIC)

With that third phrase, finally, comes an answer.

(MUSIC)

The shape, the trajectory of these three opening phrases, is very typical, not

just of Beethoven, but of music in general, in a way that I don’t believe I’ve discussed:

these three phrases are in fact subdivisions of one big phrase: short, short, then long. So, short...

(MUSIC)

This is probably the most commonplace phrasing scheme in all of music.

And in fact, the very next phrase is structured the same way: short (MUSIC),

again short (MUSIC),

and, finally, long (MUSIC).

This introduction, from start to finish, has a coiled intensity, a barely contained energy--

one might say “potential energy”.

As the introduction gives way to the exposition, that potential energy turns kinetic.

(MUSIC)

What I’ve just played for you – the movement’s exposition – is so compelling,

so riveting, I’m tempted to say that it requires no explanation.

And in a sense, it doesn’t.

But it’s also plenty interesting.

It is, in one sense, a very rich exposition: it has not only the requisite two themes,

but three. One, (MUSIC) two, (MUSIC) and three. (MUSIC)

But while there’s a wealth of material – a surplus, even – what we don’t get

is the variety of character that helps give an exposition its shape.

There may be three themes, but they are very much alike, in more ways than one.

First of all, they are all quite driven, filled with nervous energy: in all three, the rate

of motion is never slower than an extremely fast quarter note.

And on top of this rhythmic similarity, there is a motivic one: all three themes are very

much about upward motion. So the first,

(MUSIC), the second (MUSIC), and then the third (MUSIC).

You might remember the first movement of opus 2 number 1, where the first theme

(MUSIC) is, in a sense, “answered” by the second (MUSIC).

Now, that’s an unusually cut-and-dried example, and a variety of melodic direction is certainly

not an essential aspect of sonata form.

But all three themes here have a somewhat frenetic energy which comes in part from the way in

which they are always reaching up, and when you combine that with the relentless motion,

the result is a bit monochromatic.

It’s a thrilling color, to be sure, but it does make the listener feel that the exposition

is somehow incomplete on its own, an animal walking on three legs.

A couple of other notes about the exposition: the second theme, unusually, is in E-flat

MINOR, not major (MUSIC).

This is the moment in the minor key sonata, where relief – the major mode –

should come.

Instead, Beethoven withholds it, and the music remains in a sinister minor, making me even

wonder if this is correctly identified as “the second theme”.

You see, again, the similarity of the themes has a kind of blurring effect on the form.

We’ve had the introduction, virtually all in minor; the first theme area, exclusively

in minor; and now the second theme area, which remains in minor until the very last moment.

What this means is that this is an exceptionally dark movement.

It isn’t until at least the Appassionata – written almost a decade later – that

Beethoven wrote another movement that sticks so stubbornly to the minor mode.

The third theme does, finally, reach E-flat major, triumphantly

(MUSIC),

but Beethoven really takes his sweet time getting there, and when he does, it’s over in a flash.

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