Part 13 (1/2)

[Music]

in the second theins in measure 17, and the passionate outcries in measures 35 and 37 of the middle portion

Just before the Recapitulation, in measures 41-43, is an early example of Beethoven's fondness for instru with a more intimate appeal than words Thewith the itato, to a powerful cli measures The dissonant element so characteristic of the whole _

[Music]

[Footnote 146: According to d'Indy it is more truly pathetic than the entire so-called _Pathetic Sonata_]

The growing importance of dissonance e slow h they have serenity and grace, beauty and finish of forenius of their creators, are yet lacking in passion This placid mood and aht e and uncultivated persons dissonances[147] are often considered as so harsh, repellant--hence to be avoided But dissonances contain the real life and progress of inations and shake us out of our equanimity Consonant chords represent stability, satisfaction and, when over-used, inertia The genius of the coht proportion_ between these two elements; but if there is to be any disproportion let us have _too much_ rather than too little dissonance, for then, at any rate, the music is _alive_ Since Beethoven the whole develop stress laid on dissonance; to this fact a knowledge of the works of Schuner, Debussy and Franck will ay holds equally in all realms of life, human and physical The truest developood and evil Honest discontent is the first step to progress Dissonance is the yeast ofinfluence

[Footnote 147: A frequent confusion of thought is shown in the use of the words ”discord” and ”dissonance” A discord is an unrelated noise, as when one bangs with both fists on the key-board A dissonance is a logical introduction of intervals or chordseffect upon the ireatest innovators in this direction, Scryabin and Stravinsky, have been working in our own day, and there is no doubt that by their daring experied the expressive powers of music While it is obvious that the dramatic effect of to-day stimulates the experimentation of tomorrow, contrariwise, the immediate contribution of each innovator is to render more clear the work of his predecessor, up to that moment the confessed iconoclast]

The third movement, Minuetto, may be taken as a reply to Haydn's well-knoish ”Oh! that some one would write us a new Minuet” Well, here it is--with all the grace and charm of the 18th century type and yet withretrospect The rhyth sentence would be clearer if twois clearly that of a 6/4of the hands, is a playful bit of badinage, affording a delightful contrast to the Minuetto Such genuine variety inworth

The Finale, Allegro, with its capricious fortissimo outbursts and unexpected sforzandos is a characteristic example of Beethoven's freedom of utterance Any cast-iron conception of forn to his nature; instead, he hts of fancy The ins as if it were to be worked out in the so-called Rondo Sonata-form--a hybrid, tripartite structure related to the Sonata-form in that it has _two_ themes in the first and last portions, and to the Rondo in that the middle portion is a free Episode instead of the customary development of former material

The salient feature by which this fornized is that the Exposition closes with a _definite return_ to the first the the Rondo aspect--instead of with an expanded cadence based upon the second theme As we have stated before (see Chapter IX), many of Beethoven's Finales are in this mixed form, clear examples of which hth and Twelfth Sonatas The Finale of the Twelfth Sonata has been included in the Supplement in order to make this important form familiar to the student To return now to the Finale of the sonata we are studying Its first two portions correspond exactly to the usual practice in the Rondo-Sonata form just explained; _ie_, we find in the Exposition a first the in measure 17) and a definite repetition of the first theme, in measures 25-32 Then, after two ins thewith a whi of the third part

After a cohtly varied appearance of the first theme, Beethoven does not repeat the second thee in a series of brilliant passages, exciting modulations and dynaether by insistence on the fundamental rhythmic motive (measures 72-83) A final embellished statement of the first theme ushers in the fiery Coda, in e; beneath, we hear reminiscences of the main the in pianistic effect, and it is true that his pianoforte works do not bring out the possibilities of color and sonority as we find them, for exa-quartet being indeed his favoritehis entire early career Beethoven was famous as a performer and improviser on the pianoforte and sohts have been confided to that instrument That he was not at all insensible to the beauty of pianistic effect for its own sake is shown by the syncopated, shadowy chords in measures 101-105, the whole justification for which lies in their enchanting sound[149]

[Footnote 149: For a very clear tabular view of the structure of this Sonata see d'Indy's _Cours de Composition Musicale_, Book II, p 332]

SYMPHONY NO 5[150]

[Footnote 150: This is not given in the Supple remarks apropos of the Third Symphony The comments are based, as usual, on the full orchestral score]

The _Fifth Symphony in C minor_, op 67, is deservedly popular because it is so hu language of music Beethoven's e hireat philosopher, poet or artist, for all mankind Which one of us in his own experience, has not felt the saainst relentless Fate that find such uncontrollable utterance in the first e, set before us in the second movement, of hope and aspiration, of heroic and even _warlike_[151] resolution, reat souls know? The third ro)--in reality a Scherzo of the ht well typify the riddle of the Universe We indeed ”see through a glass darkly,”

and yet there is no note of despair A out, on the horns and trumpets, clarion calls to action While we are in this world wedeath is unendurable The Finale, Allegro maestoso, is a majestic declaration of unconquerable faith and optimisrapple with Fate, it shall never pull 's ”God's in his heaven, all's right with the world,” and the peroration to Whitman's _Mystic Trumpeter_, ”Joy, joy, over all joy!” No adequate attempt could be made to translate the music into words The Syraphic For all historical details as to its composition, the reader is referred to the Grove essay,[152] and for eulogistic rhapsodies nothing can surpass the essay of Berlioz, that prince of critics We shall content ourselves with a few comments of a structural nature and then trust the student to seek a perforood orchestra Of the first ro con brio)[153] the dominant characteristics, especially in comparison with the wealth of material in the _Heroic_, are conciseness and intensity It starts at once, without prelude, with the motive--one of the tersest in music--fro_

[Music[A]]

[Footnote 151: This interpretation of d'Indy is based upon the prevalence in the movement of the conventional e, considerable weight It is, however, distinctly subjective and prevents no one fro quite a different impression We should be more inclined to accept the views of the noted French scholar had he not been so wide of theof the Seventh Symphony, as to deny any appearance of dance-rhythm in the first movement But the Irish composer, Villiers Stanford, has shown conclusively that the theme is based upon the rhythree!

Meanwhile, we others have the _music itself_]

[Footnote 152: _Beethoven and his Nine Sye Grove]

[Footnote 153: Beethoven's favorite mark of tempo and expression]

[Footnote A: There are also so is concentrated in the highest degree and the assault upon our consciousness is of corresponding power A tempestuous transition leads to two short _sf_ chords and then in measure 59, announced _ff_ by the horns, appears the first phrase of the second theme, based on the same _

[Music]

It is answered by a second phrase of nation This is only momentary, however, for the relentless rhythm of the chief motive continues to assert itself in the basses until, as it gathers headway after a short closing phrase (95-99), it is thundered out _ff_ by the full orchestra in a series of descending groups The Developrim effect of the empty fifths and fourths inof the titanic, elee (212-239) where the pent-up fury of the composer seems to have exhausted itself It is only, however, a lull in the story in the Recapitulation and Coda Observe the pathetic commentary which the solo oboe makes upon the rowing out of the debris of the avalanche

The Coda begins, at measure 374, with a passionate insistence upon the fundamental rhythm, driven home with sharp hammer-blows and, as in all Beethoven's sy climax, not a mere perfunctory close The second Movement, in A-flat major, is a series of free[154] Variations (five in nureat rhythmic vitality, peculiarly rich and suave--announced, as it is, by 'celli and violas in unison, _eg_