Part 9 (1/2)
The genius of Beethoven first revealed the full possibilities of the form In fact, so remarkable was his work that such creative composers as Cesar Franck and d'Indy consider the basic principles for our ue of Bach and the Varied Air of Beethoven For, deadly dull as is the Variation form when treated in a stereotyped manner, by very reason of its freedom from arbitrary rules it enius The co characteristic theme, rich in potential develop as he can retain the interest of his hearers
Likewise for a great orator the si worth while hts and with copious illustrations to drive the truth hoes which e to Beethoven are the following: complete freedom in variety of key, so that at times (as in his op 34) each variation is in a new key; a frequent o_, the Slow movement of the _Fifth Symphony_ and the third moveht is preserved; the practice, so often followed invariations on a double the example But the chief advance in Beethoven is the entirely new conception of what variations should be; not, according to him, mere mechanical manipulations of the subject ination, as varied as thethe same mother Beethoven's variations, in fact, often seem like a series of character-pieces, each with its own individuality and yet retaining an organic relationshi+p to the ht His fondness for the form and his mastery over it is seen by the frequency of its use in the last Sonatas and String-Quartets Every composer since Beethoven has written one or more works in the Variation form; but we can mention only theconceptions of the -Quartet in D , _Death and the Maiden_, will amply repay study, and so will the _Variations Serieuses_, op 54, for the pianoforte by Mendelssohn As for Schumann, he was very happy in the use of this form, and his _Symphonic etudes_, op 13--in wealth of fancy and freedom of treatment--are quite unparalleled His Variations for two pianofortes, op 46, deserve also to be known A the finest examples since Beethoven are the numerous sets by Brahical treatment of the material and for solidity of workmanshi+p They include the _Variations on a theme from Handel_ for pianoforte, op
24; the set for orchestra, op 56a, on the _St Anthony Choral_ of Haydn; and the two sets, op 35, on theanini--universally conceded to be the most brilliant examples for the pianoforte in recent literature
To speak now particularly of the modern school, there are five co novelty and sustained eloquence, should be familiar to every music-lover and heard as often as possible For they are elaborate works which hly known to be understood and loved (1), There is the set in Tchaikowsky's Pianoforte Trio in A minor, op 50; noteworthy for freedoiven to the different transfor to a Waltz and a Mazurka (2), _The Symphonic Variations_ for Pianoforte and Orchestra of Cesar Franck, based on two contrasting themes, one in the minor mode and one with modulations to the id stops; throughout the work Franck's marvellous power of modulation and rich harmonic texture are eloquently manifested (3), The _Istar_ Variations for orchestra by d'Indy is one of the inal works in the whole field; in that, for dramatic reasons connected with the subject, the usual order is _reversed_ and the variations co more and more simple until we reach the theme itself, pure and unadorned
(4), The Symphonic Poem, _Don Quixote_, of R Strauss, a complex set of Variations on _three_ themes which typify respectively the characters of Cervantes' story; the Knight, his attendant, Sancho Panza and Dulcinea The variations are not confined to a merely abstract or formal treatment of the material but set before us a picture of the attributes of the characters and a description of soar, so-called because the identity of the basic theme is not revealed The variations are character-pieces which for individuality and charenius of the composer[84]
[Footnote 84: For a detailed account see the third volume of DG
Mason's _Appreciation of Music_ series]
We shall now analyze, with suggestive comments, two[85] of the well-known sets of Beethoven: the first movement of the Sonata, op
26, and the _Six Variations on an original theme_, op 34 The variations froh definitely sectionalized and with only one change of tonality, they clearly reveal Beethoven's freedom of conception and his aversion to stereotyped treat melody, already cited as an example of a sixteen-measure sentence, and admirably suited for variation purposes, since it arouses at once the expectation of the listener[86] The first variation is a kind of shadowy, mysterious outline of the the upon the latent possibilities of hisof interest in the second variation which, with the theme in the bass, may be likened to a 'cello solo of a mildly bravura nature (Note the fantastic accents on weak beats in measures 18, 22, 23, and 24) In the third variation coed to A-flat y, all its joy crushed out The movement abounds in impassioned dissonances, always e pulsations of the bass--in the second phrase--give a tragic intensity of feeling With the fourth variation there enters that spirit of playfulness so characteristic of Beethoven--the , in fact, a miniature Scherzo The fifth and last variation is an idyllic revery in which the composer reviews and aination has conceived, and closes with a coda, based on the motive of the main theme, of tranquillity and satisfaction
[Footnote 85: These compositions are not printed in the Supplement, as it may be assumed that the student can readily procure them They are published in a nu comments on the whole Sonata see Baxter Perry's _Descriptive analysis of Pianoforte Works_ (The Theodore Presser Co)]
The set in Fillustration of Beethoven's fondness for mediant relationshi+p, since no two variations are in the sa a _third_ below that of the preceding The Key-scheh the descent of a fifth, back to the home-key, or in actual notes:
[Music]
The first variation is a highly e the _
[Music: original theme]
[Music: 1st Variation]
Written in the old ornate style, it is of interest chiefly for the pianistic effect In the second Variation we have a change both of ti that of a distant march for ain with change of time and key, illustrates Beethoven's fondness for a subtle outlining of the theme In the fourth Variation the the; and in the next Variation a strong contrast is afforded by the Funeral March, theused for the first tiives a brilliant su up of the characteristic features of the the measures
CHAPTER IX
THE SONATA-FORM AND ITS FOUNDERS, EMMANUEL BACH AND HAYDN
We have now set forth, with representative illustrations, all the fundaue and Invention, the Two and Three-part for of these e of coenius of the Classic and Romantic masters, it was destined to show The essential feature of all the above forms is the emphasis laid on _one theme_ This is strictly true of the polyphonic forue[87] and Invention and of the Two-part forh in the Three-part form we have a second theht import The sa the new contrasting thele main theme_, to which constant recurrence is le theme But the principal characteristic of the Sonata-Form, now to be studied, is that we find therein _two themes_ of coequal importance, which may well be co characters in a drama It is true that a coination show a marked preference for one theroup to which the child owes its life, either the er character But as there can be no child without two parents, so the organism of the Sonata-Form derives its vitality fro musical personalities, the first and second themes The first theme is so called because it is the one first presented and because it generally furnishes the prevailing rhythmic pulse of the movement Yet the second thereater beauty; its title of ”second the of a secondary nature, but reater step was ever taken in the growth of musical structure than this introduction of a second coequal theme; for the principle of duality, of action and reaction between two forces, runs throughout nature both human and physical, as is seen from the import of the terative, heat and cold, light and darkness The first theor and directness, a race and tenderness, rese as music confined itself to the presentation of but one main theme it was hampered by the saedians, in whose primitive plays[88] we find but one chief actor The introduction of a second thele man_; indeed it resulted from a tendency of the times, the demand of which was for more homophonic melodies rather than for an elaborate polyphonic treatle one Embryonic traces of a second theme we find in D Scarlatti (see Supplement No 40) and in Sebastian Bach hi close to the Sonata-Form and in the example just cited actually achieved it The systematic employment of the second-theme principle, however, is coh an undue aiven his achievements to the exclusion ofthe same lines Any fair historical account of the developnize the Italians, Saian Gossec, who exercised such a marked influence in Paris, and above all, the Bohemian Johann Stamitz (1717-1757), the leader of the famous Mannheim Orchestra, of e shall speak further e come to the orchestra as a medium
In many of Stamitz's Symphonies we find the essential first- with a clear second theeschichte_, ”Their sincere phraseology, their boldness of conception and thevalue Haydn and Mozart rest absolutely upon his shoulders”[91]
[Footnote 87: Except in the coue on two subjects]
[Footnote 88: Illu comments on this point will be found in _Outlines of Musical Form_ from WH Hadow's _Studies in Modern Music_ (2nd Series)]
[Footnote 89: See the prelude in D major of the second book of the _Well-tempered Clavichord_]
[Footnote 90: For further information consult the first chapter of JS Shedlock's _The Pianoforte Sonata_]