Page 184 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

FiguRe 10.4
Original autograph of Beethoven at work on the second move- ment of his Symphony No. 5. The many corrections in different- colored inks and red pencil suggest the turmoil and constant evolution involved in Beethoven’s creative process. Unlike Mozart, to whom finished musical ideas came quickly, Beethoven’s art was a continual struggle.
first serene, and the melody is expansive—in contrast to the four- note motive of the first movement, the opening theme here runs on for twenty-two measures. The musical form is also a familiar one: theme and variations. But this is not the simple, easily audible theme and variations of Haydn and Mozart (see Chapter 8). There are two themes: the first lyrical and serene, played mostly by the strings; and the sec- ond quiet, then triumphant, played mostly by the brasses (Figure 10.4). By means of this “double” theme and variations, Beethoven demon- strates his ability to add length and complexity to a standard Classical
form. He also shows how it is possible to contrast within one movement two starkly opposed expressive domains—the intensely lyrical (theme 1) and the brilliantly heroic (theme 2).
third movement
In the Classical period, the third movement of a symphony or quartet was usu- ally a graceful minuet and trio (see Table 8.1). Haydn and his pupil Beethoven wanted to infuse this third movement with more life and energy, so they often wrote a faster, more rollicking piece and called it a scherzo, meaning “joke.” And while there is nothing particularly humorous about the mysterious and sometimes threatening sound of the scherzo of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, it is very far removed from the elegant world of the courtly minuet. In ghost-like pizzicatos the conclusion disappears, rather than ends.
Now, a stroke of genius. Beethoven links the third and fourth movements by means of a musical bridge. Holding a single pitch as quietly as possible, the violins create an eerie sound, while the timpani beats menacingly in the back- ground. A three-note motive grows from the violins and is repeated over and over as a tsunami of sound begins to swell from the orchestra. Here Beethoven is concerned only with volume, not melody, rhythm, or harmony. With enor- mous force, the wave finally crashes down, and from it emerges the triumphant beginning of the fourth movement—one of the grandest “special effects” in all of music.
fourth movement
When Beethoven arrived at the finale, he was faced with a nearly impossible task. The last movement of a symphony had traditionally been a light sendoff for the audience. How to write a conclusion that would relieve the tension of the preceding musical events, yet provide an appropriate, substantive balance to the weighty first movement? To this end, he created a finale that is longer
162 chapter ten beethoven: bridge to romanticism
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Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
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