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and the close is signalled by a descending fth (z). Example 5.6 is anno-
tated to show subsequent recon gurations of these shapes. In Phrase 2, x
1
evolves into a turning gure around f while y is implicit in the
accompaniment at bars 13 15. Motive x continues to be transformed in
Phrase 3: the dotted anacrusis disappears and the turning gure is
2
chromaticised about c (bars 15 17). Its extraordinary plaintive quality
(an example of Pathopoeia) is underlined by its dissonant intervals with
the bass. Chromaticism also infects y in this phrase: the descent through
a fourth includes the Neapolitan g 1 in bar 21. Phrase 4 breaks the
pattern in several ways. It accelerates the harmonic unfolding to end
with an imperfect cadence into V/c in bars 27 8; it includes inversions
of x and y; and it exceeds the melody s upper limit, moving above c 2 for
the rst time to reach e2 at bar 27. It is tempting to interpret this climb to
e2 as a breakthrough, liberating the treble from the numbing constraints
of the chant-derived melodies. But the treble immediately gravitates
82
The design of the Op. 27 sonatas
Example 5.6 Motivic patterns in Part 1 of the Adagio sostenuto
1
back towards its natural level, returning to b in bar 28. A long pedal
point on G follows. Despite the inevitable accumulation of harmonic
tension over this pedal, Beethoven suppresses much of the passage s dra-
matic potential by maintaining a quiet dynamic level and by creating an
arch shape of the treble s register. Thus the section is not directed
towards a climactic resolution, but reaches its climax at its midpoint in
bar 35. Motive x is liquidated in bars 28 31 and the rest of the section is
dominated by triplet broken chords. If the melody has previously kept
the accompaniment in check, the triplets now become comparatively
wild, spiralling through diminished seventh chords into a high register.
But they sink back after bar 35, and echoes of bars 27 8 in bars 37 40
can only be interpreted as a profoundly pessimistic gesture, further
intensi ed by the substitution of d for d in bar 39. All passion spent, the
83
The Moonlight and other Sonatas
Phrase 1 bars 42 63 (5 bars) c E
Phrase 2 464 513 (5) E c
Phrase 3 514 601 (8) C c
Coda 60 9 (10) c
Figure 5.12 Design of Adagio sostenuto Part 2
Example 5.7 Op. 27/2/i bars 47 54
bass outlines the turning gure based on x before cadencing into the
tonic at bar 42.
Once C minor has been recaptured it is never seriously threatened by
other keys. Part 2 reprises most of the ideas from Part 1, but Beethoven
compresses the themes and connects the phrases more strongly to one
another. For example, an overarching pattern c E c links Phrases 1
and 2 (Figure 5.12), and Phrases 2 and 3 are run together and linked by
motivic repetition (Example 5.7). Phrase 3 generates a climax: the
descent from c 2 to c 1 (bars 55 60) is the movement s most mobile
moment. It grows out of the plaintive cry , in response to the change to
C major in bar 51. This chord acts as V/f (bar 55), initiating a series of
perfect cadences (expressed as a descending 6 5 sequence). Such quick-
ened harmonies are more than the movement can bear, and the next
cadence into c (bar 60) introduces a short coda. While the coda is pri-
marily a peroration, winding down to the single C in bar 68, it also has
parallels with the central pedal point. Both sections do without a treble
melody and allow the accompaniment s triplets to rise into a higher reg-
ister. And both are based on a pedal G , in the bass in the earlier section,
tolling a funereal monotone in the tenor during the coda.
Beethoven does not activate the dramatic potential of his ideas in the
Adagio sostenuto. Motives are not developed in a conversational or
confrontational discourse, but are crafted into permutational combina-
tions, looming in and out of focus over the uniform triplets. Thus each
melodic phrase seems to o er a provisional arrangement of the ideas,
84
The design of the Op. 27 sonatas
Allegretto A1 (varied repeat A2) bars 0 16
B 16 24
A3 24 36
Trio C 36 44
D 44 60
Figure 5.13 Form of the Allegretto
rather than evolving towards the telos of a perfect form. The coda is
hardly a goal here, and the nal bars are placed on a knife edge between
closing and merely stopping. Rather than allowing the movement to drift
from pianissimo into silence, Beethoven asks for the Allegretto to follow
without a break.
Allegretto
This ower between two abysses 14 brings yet another sudden shift in
tone and character. Most critics have heard it as a necessary relief from
the strongly characterised outer movements, and it undoubtedly lls an
important psychological space between the inactivity of the Adagio
sostenuto and the nale s manic drama. Moreover its change of mode to
the major (D is an enharmonic spelling of C ) provides a much needed
perspective on the otherwise ubiquitous C minor.15
Yet despite these surface contrasts there are numerous connections
between the rst two movements. Some are built into the pitch and
rhythmic patterns, others are perhaps not inherent in the text but
depend on choices made by performers. Bars 1 37 contain repeated
descending fourths in the treble, thus developing the shape found in the
bass at the opening of the Adagio. Section B, though super cially a con-
trast to the rst sixteen bars, merely expands the all-pervasive motive
(Example 5.8). Additionally the movement s characteristic rhythmic
pattern ( | | ) can be perceived as a transformation of
from the Adagio, though as Tovey remarked there is a new metrical
ambiguity to this pattern in the Allegretto.16 The music is organised in
two-bar hypermetres, but it is not clear where the main accent should
fall: | | or | | ? Some pianists underline the
continuity of the sonata by maintaining a common pulse for the Adagio
and the Allegretto (see p. 51 above). Others pursue the same goal by
85
The Moonlight and other Sonatas
Example 5.8 Motivic relationships in the Allegretto
moving from the rst movement to the second with no intervening
silence. In this way the rst phrase of the Allegretto literally grows out of
the Adagio s closing tonic, a feature which might explain why Beethoven
takes so long to articulate the tonic chord strongly in section A1 (bars 1 4
prolong V and the rst root-position D major chord comes only in bar
8).17 But by the end of the A3 the postponement of closure has become a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]