Page 181 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

Example 10.3 > a rhythm that pervades all movements
firstmovement second movement third movement fourth movement
first movement
‰œ œ œ ˙ ‰ œ. œ œ œ œ œ.
œ œ œ ˙
3
Œ
At the very outset, the listener is jolted to attention, forced to sit up and take notice by a sudden explosion of sound (see Listening Cue). And what an odd be- ginning to a symphony—a blast of three short notes and a long one, followed by the same three shorts and a long, all now a step lower. The movement can’t quite get going. It starts and stops, then seems to lurch forward and gather momen- tum. And where is the melody? This three-shorts-and-a-long pattern is more a motive or musical cell than a melody. Yet it is striking by virtue of its power and compactness. As the movement unfolds, the actual pitches of the motive prove to be of secondary importance. Beethoven is obsessed with its rhythm. He wants to demonstrate the enormous latent force lurking within even the most basic rhythmic atom, a power waiting to be unleashed by a composer who under- stands the secrets of rhythmic energy.
To control the sometimes violent forces that will explode, the music unfolds within the traditional confines of sonata–allegro form. The basic four-note mo- tive (Example 10.4) provides all the musical material for the first theme area.
Example 10.4 > the motive of the first movement (Download 31 at 0:00)
œ œ œ œ
U & 4 ƒœ œ œ ˙
bbb 2 ‰
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 10.4 online.
The brief transition played by a solo French horn is only six notes long and is formed simply by adding two notes to the end of the basic four-note motive (Example 10.5). As expected, the transition carries us tonally from the tonic (C minor) to the relative major (E♭ major).
Example 10.5 > the motive extended to end transition (0:43)
bb ‰œœœ
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 10.5 online.
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bƒ ˙ ˙ ß˙ ßß
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