[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

cadencing in bar 37. In comparison, the beginning of the Trio con-
dently projects the tonic with powerful root-position chords, but in
other respects it seems to go over the same ground as the rst section of
the Allegretto. Both sections open with non-modulating phrases (bars
1 16 and 37 44); both have central phrases with descending chromatic
lines (the treble in bars 17 24, the bass in bars 45 9); and in the last eight
bars of the Trio (bars 53 60) the bass virtually quotes bars 32 6 from the
earlier section. Thus the Allegretto may be seen to exhibit the same type
of improvisatory variation processes that characterise sections of the E
fantasy-sonata.
This is the only movement in either of the Op. 27 sonatas which is not
marked attacca to the next movement. Some pianists, however, plunge
straight into the nale, following the spirit of Beethoven s score rather
than its letter. The  missing attacca is unlikely to have been a mistaken
omission: it is not in Beethoven s autograph and, had he intended to
include the marking, he would surely have added it at the proof stage of
the rst edition. Paul Mies argued that an attacca would have been con-
fusing within a da capo movement, and that its absence does not indicate
a pause between the second and third movements.18 Whatever the rights
86
The design of the Op. 27 sonatas
Example 5.9 Registral connections between the Allegretto and Presto agitato
or wrongs of joining the nale to the Allegretto in performance, there are
strong registral connections that override the double bar. Example 5.9
shows how a gap in the treble register at bars 34 6 is lled by ascending
arpeggios in bars 1 2. So, if the Allegretto emerges in response to the last
notes of the Adagio, then the nale appears to take its immediate cue
from the gesture which precedes it.
Presto agitato
All the drama that was suppressed in the rst movement bursts forth
with a vengeance in the nale. Indeed the Presto agitato might almost be
regarded as a recomposition of the Adagio sostenuto in Beethoven s
most dramatic style. Aspects of the rst movement s tonal design leave
traces here (see the discussion of the development section, below). And
earlier ideas return transformed within this, the most terse and concen-
trated sonata-form movement the composer had written up to this time.
As several critics have pointed out, the opening section of the Presto
dynamically recasts the beginning of the sonata: its arpeggios, lament
bass, and emphasis on G . But the other themes also refer back to the
previous movements (see Example 5.10). For instance, the second
subject inverts the Adagio sostenuto s basic melodic shape (5.10a and b);
the theme at bars 43 . alludes to the head-motive of the Allegretto (5.10c
and d); the end of the development section recalls the end of the Adagio s
central pedal point (5.10e and f ); the coda returns to the rst movement s
triplet quavers and slow sonorous bass lines; and in both the rst and last
movements Neapolitan chords are prominent. In comparison with the
looser motivic connections and mixed character of the E Sonata, the
 Moonlight has a remarkable motivic cohesion and  in its outer move-
ments  unity of tone.
87
The  Moonlight and other Sonatas
Example 5.10 Motivic transformations in the Presto agitato
Bars Tonality Length
Exposition 1 64 c  g 64 bars
Development 65 101 (C ) f  G f  V/c 37 bars
Recapitulation 102 57 c 56 bars
Coda 157 200 c 43 bars
Figure 5.14 form of the Presto agitato
Figure 5.14 gives an overview of the movement s form. The opening
of the exposition is built on two broad descents from C to G 1 in the
bass: the rst (bars 1 14) moves by step and ends with a six-bar prolon-
gation of G as the dominant of C ; in the second (bars 15 21) the bass
arpeggiates through C , A , and F , before resolving onto G as a new
tonic in bar 21. The following theme pays lip service to the lyrical arche-
88
The design of the Op. 27 sonatas
type for second subjects, but it retains the nervous energy of the opening
with its rapid Alberti bass, gruppetto, and sudden dynamic surges. A
perfect cadence in G minor might be expected at bar 29, but Beethoven
substitutes a third-inversion dominant seventh chord. This substitution
initiates a descending sequence (bars 29 32) that transforms elements of
the Adagio sostenuto: the melodic shape of the  plaintive cry in bars
15 17 and the sweeping harmonic pattern of bars 56 7. It is halted only
by a thundrous A major chord in bar 33, the strongest emphasis yet on a
Neapolitan chord. An attempt at closure is thwarted by another inter-
rupted cadence at bar 37, and the rst strong close in G minor nally
arrives at bar 43. In contrast to the second subject, the closing theme is
harmonically stable, dissipating earlier dissonant energies with a series
of cadential formulae. The exposition s last cadence is coloured by
another Neapolitan (A major in bar 55), before the second subject is liq-
uidated over a G pedal (bars 57 64). At the close a repeated emphasis on

5 (d 3) recalls both the nale s second subject and the monotone that
dominated the Adagio sostenuto. In bars 63 5 chromatic motion in an
inner voice (b b  c 1) retonicises C minor for the exposition repeat. At
the second-time bar the music cadences into C major rather than C
minor: a modi cation which leads to F minor at the start of the develop-
ment.
At thirty-seven bars, the development section (bars 65 101) is unusu-
ally short and concentrated. It is governed by two tonal areas: F minor
acts as a local tonic until bar 83, at which point the music swings rapidly
towards the dominant of C in preparation for the recapitulation. This
progression transforms a weak relationship from the rst movement into
a dynamic, goal-directed process here. In Part 1 of the Adagio sostenuto
the last perfect cadence is in F minor (bar 23), initiating a move to the
dominant of C (bars 23 8) and a long pedal point. The Presto s develop-
ment section dramatises this progression, but a signi cant new element
is incorporated: the G major statement of the second subject (bar 79
onwards) is a Neapolitan interpolation within the ruling F minor,
further developing the increasingly important relationships between key
areas a semitone apart (for a tonal outline of this section, see Example
5.11).
Beethoven tightens the drama of the recapitulation by omitting the
modulatory passage from the exposition: the second subject, now in
89 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • mons45.htw.pl
  • Wątki
    Powered by wordpress | Theme: simpletex | © (...) lepiej tracić niż nigdy nie spotkać.