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Chapter 14: Beethoven

Chapter 14: Beethoven. Beethoven and the Symphony. Rhythmic drive Motivic consistency Psychological progression Scherzo Fragmentation Rhythmic motive. Key Terms. Ludwig van Beethoven (1) (1770-1827). Son & grandson of Bonn court musicians To Vienna in 1792 to study with Haydn

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Chapter 14: Beethoven

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  1. Chapter 14:Beethoven Beethoven and the Symphony

  2. Rhythmic drive Motivic consistency Psychological progression Scherzo Fragmentation Rhythmic motive Key Terms

  3. Ludwig van Beethoven (1) (1770-1827) • Son & grandson of Bonn court musicians • To Vienna in 1792 to study with Haydn • Began a career as pianist & composer • Progressive deafness diagnosed in 1802 • Beethoven considered suicide • Chose to devote his life to his art instead • His music now took on a new urgency • Forceful, strong-willed, uncompromising • He all but demanded support from nobility

  4. Ludwig van Beethoven (2) (1770-1827) • Probably the 1st person to make a career solely from composing • Seen as a genius, he seemed to live for his art • Many affairs, but he never married • Totally deaf by 1820 • Adopted his orphan nephew in later years • Beethoven was much too overprotective • Shock of his nephew’s suicide attempt hastened his own death • 20,000 attended Beethoven’s funeral

  5. Beethoven and the Symphony (1) • Beethoven created excitement & urgency by maximizing musical elements • Higher and lower registers • Sharper syncopations & stronger accents • Harsher dissonances that must struggle to arrive at yet more profound resolutions • New demands on instruments • Expansion of the orchestra • Classical forms stretched to their limits

  6. Beethoven and the Symphony (2) • Beethoven wrote only nine symphonies • He wrote many more piano sonatas (32) & string quartets (16) • But Beethoven is associated especially with the symphony • Wrote some of the greatest symphonies ever • Orchestra provided the greatest range of expression, variety, & sheer volume • Even his sonatas & quartets of 1800-1810 sound like symphonies – and require new techniques of piano & string playing!

  7. Beethoven and the Symphony (3) • Beethoven’s “symphonic ideal” can be observed in his Fifth Symphony (1808) • Three main features have impressed generations of listeners • Rhythmic drive • Motivic consistency • Psychological progression

  8. Rhythmic Drive • Blunt, even ferocious rhythms produce a palpable physical impact • Beethoven hammers the meter • Emphasizes meter & disrupts it with equal vigor • Piles accent upon accent, rhythm upon rhythm • Rhythmic motives surge forward • Long-range rhythmic planning & goals • A far cry from the elegance & wit of Classical style

  9. Motivic Consistency • Constant repetition of a single motive • Especially in 1st movement of Symphony 5 • Motive repeated, yet constantly varied • Variations never sound random • Motive becomes more significant & vivid as work progresses • Creates a feeling of organic growth – like a plant’s leaves growing from a single seed

  10. Psychological Progression • Symphony no longer simply 4 contrasting movements • Beethoven now traces a coherent & dramatic psychological progression • “There fate knocks at the door!” • Beethoven on the 1st movement • But Fate is trampled under by a military march in the the last movement • Symphony now expresses an inspirational life process – a drama to rival opera!

  11. The Scherzo • Beethoven substitutes a scherzo for the traditional minuet • Italian word scherzo = joke • Aristocratic minuet too formal • Scherzo shares a few features with minuet • A B A form & triple meter • But scherzo was much faster • Rhythmic drive & frequent syncopation give it a brusque, jocular, even violent feel

  12. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, I (1) • Motivic consistency prominent here • A single rhythmic motive dominates • It forms the first theme • It initiates the bridge • It appears as background to lyrical 2nd theme • It emerges again in the cadence material

  13. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, I (2) • It is used throughout the development • It continues to grow in the long coda • Motive gives the work a gripping urgency

  14. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, I (3) • Listen for— • Arresting, primal first statement of Theme 1 motives separated by fermatas • Horn-call bridge announces Theme 2 • Theme 1 variant announces the development • Thematic fragmentation in the development • Oboe cadenza in the recapitulation • Recapitulation’s 2nd group in major key • LONG, developmental coda with new theme • Main motive repeated & varied in every bar!

  15. The Remaining Movements • First movement ends with a standoff at the end of a heroic struggle • Later movements respond to and resolve this struggle • The rhythmic motive recurs in each movement to remind us of the struggle • C minor passages also recall the struggle • C major passages point to the ultimate triumph over Fate

  16. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, II • Double theme & variations form • Six variations on Theme 1 • Primary key is A-flat major • Modulates to C major 3 times for powerful, triumphant fanfare passages • Rhythmic motive appears in mysterious retransition to A-flat

  17. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, III (1) • Scherzo movement in A B A form • A section recalls 1st movement • Spooky a theme is in C minor with fermata interruptions • Rhythmic motive dominates forceful b theme

  18. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, III (2) • B section (Trio) points to Fate’s defeat • Humorous fugal section in C major • Return of A completely transformed • Mysterious pizzicato & oboe • Leads into doubly mysterious transition

  19. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, IV (1) • Eerie transition leads directly into IV • Rhythmic motive in timpani • Music grows gradually louder & clearer • At climax, full orchestra (with trombones) announces marchlike 1st theme of the 4th movement – in C major • Straightforward sonata form movement • Theme 2 based on the rhythmic motive

  20. Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, IV (2) • End of development brings back 3rd movement’s b theme & eerie transition • A final reminder of the struggle • Recapitulation & coda provide a great C-major celebration • No surprises in recapitulation • LONG coda in three sections revisits previous themes • Final section accelerates tempo for a rousing Presto finale • Ending drives home C major chord

  21. Conclusions • The dramatic strength & rhythmic power of this work went far beyond earlier music • Beethoven unified the symphony • Motives appear in more than one movement • Movements can be connected without pause • The symphony narrates a dramatic “story” • Beethoven single-handedly changed the nature of the symphony genre • Never again would the symphony be a simple entertainment

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