Beethoven

highlights of the

Most Important
Works

Form, Harmony
and the
Romantic Agenda

Osvaldo Glieca

© 2014
 Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)

Beethoven was to study with Mozart in Vienna, but Mozart’s early
death intervened.

The idea that Beethoven was to receive the spirit of Mozart from
the hands of Haydn reflects this aspiration; yet Beethoven felt
frustrated with Haydn’s teaching.

He studied counterpoint with Albrechtsberger (1736 – 1809)

Yet, considering Beethoven’s structural thinking and use of motif,

it is as if the influence of Haydn had been absorbed deeply,
regardless of the superficial antagonism between them.
Before Beethoven, the idea of structural unity seems to have been
confined to single movements. The idea of building a work from a
single motivic building block seems more fully realized in
Beethoven, particularly in works such as the 5th Symphony and the
Hammerklavier piano sonata.

Although Beethoven is often seen as an early romantic composer,
and a strongly egotistical personality, this does not take into
account the values at the basis of his commitment. He was a man of
his word with and extraordinary concentration power.
Values such as integrity, wanting to work for the good of mankind,
(combined with a mistrust in organized religion) music as a serious
artform, high commitment to his own ideas, etc.
 Beethoven’s career is traditionally divided into three periods

The Early period (1770-1802) his youth in Bonn and his early years
in Vienna

The Middle Period (1803–1814) when Beethoven began to compose in
a new style, this is the beginning of the “Romantic” era in Western
Music

The Late Period (1815–1827) when Beethoven becomes increasingly
isolated due to his deafness


 Classical Sonatas Form

Exposition Development Recapitulation

1. Develop material from first or 1. First subject in tonic key

1. First subject in tonic, generally
fast and rhythmic second subject 2. Transition, material reworked
2. Theme developments such as 3. Second subject in tonic
2. Transition (bridge) modulate to
augmentation diminution, phrase 4. Coda section fragments of first
dominant or relative key.
3. Second subject in new key fragmentation, harmonic and second subject
inversion, rhythmic displacement, 5. Preparation for cadence
dominant or relative
intervallic inversion. 6. End
4. Contrasting theme to first subject.
3. Final section of development could
take you to the tonic key or
Sonata form evolved from Binary Form: AA/BB where in the first
section (A) modulates from the tonic to the dominant. This whole
section is then repeated (A again). The second section (B) starts in
the dominant and then modulates back to the tonic. This section is
then repeated. Thus AA/BB.

A full form could end in something like this

Intro-Exposition-Development-Recapitulation-Coda

In Sonata Form the move from tonic to dominant in the Exposition is
dramatized by the use of different material for each: the 1st
Subject in the tonic and the 2nd Subject in the dominant. Often this is
not simply a melody but a collection of musical material or several
melodies, hence the more correct terms 1st Subject Group & 2nd
Subject Group. 
 Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
(composed during 1796 – 1798)

Belong to a first-period composition, anticipating the more notable

C minor works the Pathétique Sonata and the 5th Symphony.

The work is divided into three movements:

I.  Allegro molto e con brio in C minor
II.  Adagio molto in Ab major
III.  Finale: Prestissimo in C minor
The first movement, in sonata form, opens energetically with
contrasting loud and soft phrases. Bars 1-31: First subject in C minor
(tonic). The first subject, which consists of tonic and dominant
harmony of C minor.

Bars 32-56: Connecting Episode, with one introductory bar on Eb
begins with a melodious phrase, which occurs three times,
constructed on the tonic and dominant harmony of the key of Ab
major.

Bar 45 contains three different forms of the chord of the augmented
sixth (French, German, and Italian).

Bars 56-94: Second Subject in E flat major. The second subject is in
four-bar rhythm. After the chord of the 6/4, Bar 86, there is a reprise
of the first subject and ending in Eb major.
The second movement is a lyrical Adagio with many
embellishments. It is in A–B–A–B
Bars 106-168: The development starts with a part of the first subject
in C major. At Bar 118 the second subject is developed for eight bars
in F minor, repeated in Bb minor.
Bars 136-167 form a passage taken from the connecting episode,
leading to the re-entry of the first subject.
Third movement in original key. Compare Bars 65-70 with Bars
20-23. The Coda is formed upon the first subject; it contains
syncopation in every bar but the last two.

The third movement is making heavy use of a figure of five eighth
notes. The short development section contains an unmistakable
foreshadow of the theme from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
 Beethoven Moonlight Sonata (no.14 opus 27)
Another example of a Classical sonata that does not have a sonata first
movement The sonata consists of three movements:
I.  Adagio sostenuto
II.  Allegretto
III.  Presto agitato

The first movement melody is the result of the uppermost voice in the
compound line of arpeggios. The fast final movement is a virtuosic tour
de force comparable to the last movement of Mozarts’ Sonata K331.
First movement (Adagio sostenuto)has triplet ostinato that occurs
throughout the piece. Beethoven rebelled against this determinative
quality in the first movement. He wanted a prelude instead, an
introduction, and not a proposition as it was in “traditional” sonata form.
 The second movement is a relatively conventional scherzo and trio, a
moment of relative calm written in Db major.
It is unusual for both the First and Second Parts to be in the same key.

The stormy final movement in C♯minor, is the most important of the

three (an experiment of Beethoven). The writing has many fast arpeggios/
broken chords, strongly accented notes, and fast Alberti bass sequences.
The third movement, is known to be the inspiration for Frédéric Chopin's
Fantaisie-Impromptu, which was actually a tribute to Beethoven.
On the final movement, Charles Rosen wrote: “Even today, two hundred
years later, its ferocity is astonishing”.
 Beethoven Hammerklavier sonata (No. 29 opus 106)

The word Hammerklavier has become attached to this work almost by

accident, it was simply the German name for ”piano” and any of the
sonatas could have been given this name.

The work is in Bb major, yet the Adagio movement is in F# minor (covering

all the 12 tones). The Adagio movement is in sonata form with second
subject in D major (Vi of F# minor). The final movement, Allegro risoluto
contains a fugue, and example of the reintroduction of this texture in the
Classical era.
The musicologist Donald Tovey finds comparison between the materials of
all movements in this piece.
 Beethoven Waldstein Sonata (Opus 53)

Unusual, groundbreaking, innovative piece of artwork outstanding which
established a new standard for piano composition.

Piece is in C major, yet 2nd subject is not in G, the key of the dominant, but E
major.

First half of 1st subject shifts in direction of G, but this returns to first theme
in alteration that then modulates to E major.

Exposition takes 12 bars on dominant of E to establish the new key. This time-
span on the dominant is not exceptional, however. What relation can be found
between first and second subjects?

The first subject is percussive and strongly directional tonally. Second subject
is lyrical and melodic. They both start on third degree of their respective keys
and feature stepwise movement. Second subject, while horizontally extensive,
is relatively static harmonically.

The Waldstein has three movements:

Allegro con brio
Introduzione: Adagio molto (in F major)
Rondo: Allegretto moderato — Prestissimo

The first and last movements of the sonata are the most substantial, each
taking about 11 minutes to perform.

The first movement is in sonata form: it has a repeated exposition with two
subject groups, a development section, a recapitulation and a coda.

The movement opens with repeated pianissimo chords in a straightforward
but anxious rhythm, devoid of melody for two bars.
 Beethoven "Eroica" Symphony No. 3 (opus 55)

The title of the piece Eroica reflects dedication to Napoleon.
Beethoven tore up the dedication page (to Napoleon Bonaparte) when he
heard that Napoleon had crowned himself as Emporer: quote "so he’s just an
ordinary human being after all. Now he will trample over human rights…"

As with the Waldstein Sonata there are strong percussive elements. The
opening bars were added after the main part of the work on the piece had
been completed.

Places emphasis on the downbeat of each bar, this makes the syncopations
that start in the first violins in bar 7 all the more effective (the effect is slight
to begin with)
These, in turn, anticipate the sf rhythmic displacements of bar 25

From bar 25 to 31 note the transformation into, in effect, 2/4 time,

transition back to 3/4 time from bar 33 – 35, leading back to
restatement of 1st subject at bar 36

The tension created by this is a rhythmic equivalent of the harmonic

tension of dominant 7th
 Structural dissonance

The C# in bar 8 is an example of a thematic long term dissonance.

The chord might be regarded as C# dim7th (Bb is the dim7th note)

chromatically linking with the Gmin in 2nd inversion to Bb7 in 1st
inversion.

However, the point is that the harmony of bar 8 sounds as an Eb7

chord enharmonically, which would normally resolve to Ab.

Yet it does not lead anywhere expected from bar 8, and the resolution
of the Gmin 2nd inversion (i.e.: six-four) chord in which the 4th is
doubled is far from conventional.
At the time this would have sounded odd in a way that is hard to appreciate
today. However, it sets up a sense of fracture that will need resolving later on.

Sonata structures begin to expand on account of such long term resolutions.
The resolution does not commence until the Recapitulation section.

See bar 390 onwards (page 32 of the Eulenberg edition) where the
recapitulation starts

Bar 402 of the Recapitulation corresponds to bar 8 of the exposition

But note that from this point the music takes a different direction
Whereas in earlier sonata form pieces a bridge passage might be modified
in the Recapitulation (so that it does not modulate anywhere) the passage
from bar 8 to 37 in the Exposition had no such function (it led back to the
Eb home key).

The corresponding passage in the Recapitulation composes out the

structural dissonance, but not by the simple solution of permitting the
music to shift to Ab.

Rather than this it functions to balance out the flat and the sharp side of
the circle of fifths
 Other significant features of the 3rd symphony 1st movement

There is a third theme in the development section, where the key is E minor
(a very distant key from E flat over on the sharp side).

The coda is also very long and amounts to a further development section

Beethoven encountered some problems with the attention span of his

audience

Critics thought the piece too long and did not perceive the

underlying unity of his structures

Nevertheless, after this Beethoven’s next major work was the Waldstein
sonata, also revolutionary
 Symphony 3, movement II

Marcia Funebre, Adagio Assai

Subtitled "to the memory of a great man" without mentioning any name

The military aspect of this, suggested by the trumpets and "march" of the
title might hint at Napoleon, but he was still alive

The key of the march is C minor but with a trio in C major

Contains an extensive fugato (c.7’) an relatively rare example of this texture

in Classical style
 movement III

Scherzo

The introduction of a lively scherzo was one of Beethoven’s innovations for
the symphony.

Replacing the minuet, it takes a similar form and also seems to have a dance-
like quality, albeit a far more vigorous one, more resembling a riotous
Austrian village.

Movement IV

Finale: Allegro Molto

Characteristic of a symphonic finale that it should be in rondo, or sonata-
rondo form, and project tuneful joyfulness. The main theme of this, with its
ascending 5th, dropping an octave to a 4th below, resembles ideas in some of
Beethoven’s earliest sketches for thematic material that seemed to have been
intended for the 1st movement.
 Beethoven’s Symphony no 6 the Pastoral
movement V (final movement)

Considered as early example of romanticism due to its programmatic idea and
"visual” lyricism
A symphony in 5 movements, anticipating later 19th century innovations.

The first piece to link up movements: the link comes between the ‘storm’of the
4th movement and the final rondo 5th movement

This movement can be thought of as sonata-rondo (in F major). It has a second

theme (on the dominant) that goes to the subdominant Bb at start of the
development (c. 2’ 50”)
F is dominant of this, but becomes tonicised via pivot note F onto Db major
chord which descends in chromatic relation to C, dominant of F
 Sonata Rondo example of form

A - Bridge - B (dom ) -A – C [ subdom:development section) – A (recap)-

Bridge B (home key)- A (variations and developments and coda) In which
A is the rondo theme.

It is generally considered that Beethoven’s most innovative symphonies

were the 3rd, 5th , 6th and 9th.

The 5th symphony is regarded as an extreme example of a piece generated

from one motivic fragment. Note, that it is the rhythmic proportions of the
motif, rather than its pitch content, that allows it to appear in so many
apparent transformations. Consisting of three short notes and one long one
it is more malleable than any arrangement of pitches.
The 9th symphony, known often as the Choral Symphony creates something
of a controversy over the introduction of a chorus into the final movement
with the words of Schiller’s Ode to Joy. Some see this as a betrayal of the
instrumental abstract purity of the symphonic form. There are also claims
that Beethoven himself regretted his decision to end with this rather than
the piece he had sketched at an earlier stage.

The introduction of a chorus anticipates much in symphonic development in

the 19th Century: The finale of Liszts’ Faust Symphony and Mahler’s 2nd and
8th symphonies

Beethoven's 9th Symphony, from 1824, is a work infinitely popular. It was the
first time that a composer had used choral voices in a major symphony.
Sadak in Search of the Waters of the Oblivion
Oil On Canvas (1812) John Martin


The continuing expansion of Sonata form

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major

Starting with piano rather than orchestra was a new idea at the time

The orchestra takes up the theme from the piano but puts it in B major
(with no transition – also a new idea)

Notice the similarity of rhythm to that of the motif of the 5th symphony; this
is particularly clear in the 1st movement coda where 4th note is longer
The orchestral interruption in B major represents only a temporary state;
the music shifts back to G and among the modulations that follow B is
introduced again but this time properly via F#.

In this, a second theme, (based on bars 12&13?) effects modulations from
A minor and, via tonicisation of B (the F#) to E minor; restatement in G
follows.

A more fluid attitude to entering and leaving quite distant keys anticipates
the tonality of the Romantic era. The modulations are many and varied; the
music only re-orientates itself around the dominant key gradually. This
show the courageous attitude to break up with tradition giving way to a
powerful self-expression which was unrivaled for other composers.
 1815 – 1848 sometimes regarded as the true Romantic era.


Important composers of that era
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
Hector Berlioz (1803 – 1869)
Franz Shubert (1797 – 1828)
Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

Also the era of virtuoso players
Niccolo Paganini, violin (1782 - 1840)
Giovanni Bottesini, double bass (1821 – 1889)
Mauro Giuliani, guitar (1781 – 1829)
Ferdinando Carulli, guitar (1770 – 1841)

The term romantic said to originate with argument between the
German poets and writers Johan Wolfang Goethe (1749 - 1832) and
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schille (1759 – 1805)
 Early Classical Orchestra
Flutes
Oboes
Bassoons
Horns (French Horns)
Harpsichord
Timpani
Strings
(violins I & 2, violas, celli, basses doubling celli at 8vb)

Note the continuing presence of harpsichord. French horns were
introduced around 1710: they were natural instrument and could
play only the harmonic series available. These instruments did not
have the piston valve system which was developed in 1800s.
 Late Classical Orchestra
Flutes
Oboes
Clarinets
Bassoons
Horns (French Horn)
(Trumpets)
(Trombones)
Timpani
Strings
(violins I & 2, violas, celli, basses doubling celli at 8vb)
Note the addition of clarinets, trumpets (at least in operas) and trombones
more rarely. Exclusion of harpsichord. The pianoforte was invented by the
Italian Bartlomeo Cristofori in 1720. Later used as a primary keyboard
instrument through the mid-1800s by many classical composers, including
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig Beethoven. The instrument had 48 keys and
expanded to up to 64 keys.
 List of Classical genres

Symphonies
Opera (seria, buffa)
Concertos (succeeded the Concerto Grosso)
String Quartets (succeeded trio sonatas)
Divertimenti and Seranades: light in character
Song (Lied)
Piano sonatas (and other chamber sonatas)
Oratorios (carried on from baroque)
Cantatas (the Lutheran form carried on from baroque)
Masses (the Catholic ceremonial form extant since middle ages)
A recent development in painting. Caspar David Friedrich, John Martin.
Nature as a new ideal, possibly a new refuge.

Jena School of Romanticism; ideals of complete individual freedom.
The first phase of Romanticism in German literature represented by the work
of a group in Jena from about 1798 to 1804. The movement is considered to
have contributed to the development of German idealism in late modern
philosophy.

Novalis (Georg Philipp Freidrich von Hardenbourg 1772-1801) Philosopher

Heinrich Heine (1797 – 1856) important poet for 19th c composers of
Lieder (set by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Hugo Wolf)

Idea of the artist as creative hero (Liszt and Wagner, particularly salient
examples) which is part of the reason why concerto becomes such a popular
form.
 Biedermeier

1815 – 48 also known as the Biedermieir era, yet this tendency can be seen as
a counterbalance to the wildness of romantic ideals.

Refers to work of literature, arts, and furniture in the period between the
years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the
year of the European revolutions. Seems to re-adapt the French Empire style
replacing formality and majesty with comfort and function.

Most often refers to the kind of peaceful domesticity that was encouraged
particularly seen in the style of furniture in central Europe and Germany.
the Biedermieir era had a visible impact in early 19th century in Germany,
Austria, Hungary, Poland and much of central and north Europe (excluding
Great Britain), while France and Italy continues the Neoclassical agenda-
style first with revival of the Greek and Roman style, followed by an eclectic
revamped approach of the Italian Renaissance (c. 1300 - 1600), which today
could be seen as a New-Mannerism art-form for that time.


Biedermieir was associated with artistic repression and discouraged artists
from a political engagement.

Mendelssohn was associated with this, “unfairly” according to Charles
Rosen (American Pianist and musicologist 5th May 1927 - 9th Dec 2012)
John Martin British painter (1789 -1854)

Caspar David Friedrich German painter (1774 - 1840)


Romanticism in painting was an intellectual movement that originated in
Europe toward the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its
peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was
characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as
glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than
the classical. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution.
John Martin, The Assuaging of the Waters (1840)
Oil on Canvas, Fine Art Museum of San Francisco, USA
John Martin,
The Bard (1817)

Oil on Canvas,
Laing Art Gallery,
Newcastle, UK
Caspar David
Friedrich
The Wanderer Above
The Sea of Fog (1818)

Oil on canvas,
Hamburger
Kunsthalle
Hamburg, Germany
Caspar David Friedrich, The Abbey in the Oakwood, (1809)
Oil on Canvas, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Caspar David Friedrich, The Sea of Ice (1823) Oil on Canvas,
Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven,
painted in approximately 1804 or
1805.




Joseph Willibrord Mähler, oil on canvas.
Pasqualati House of the Vienna
Museum.
A portrait of an old Beethoven dated
1823.

Ill health and increasing deafness
caused a drop in productivity at the
end of Beethoven's life, but he still
managed to produce important
works like his Late Quartets in 1825,
which were wildly inventive for the
time.

Beethoven died in Vienna on the
26th March 1827 after a long illness
that has variously been attributed to
alcohol, hepatitis, cirrhosis and Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
(1793 – 1865) Oil on canvas
pneumonia. Collections at the Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna
Painting, by Franz Xaver Stöber (1795–1858), of Beethoven funeral
procession in Vienna. Original watercolor at Beethoven-Haus Museum
(in Bonn, Germany).
 The legacy of Beethoven

He is the pivotal figure in the time of transition between
the Classical and Romantic ages of Western music, and,
without shadow of doubt, one of the most admired and
respected composer of all time.

Beethoven’s personal life was marked by personal
struggles, some of his most important works were
composed during the last 10 years of his life, when he
was quite unable to hear. He died at the age of 56.
 Memorable quotes
“Nothing is more intolerable than to have admit to yourself your own errors.”

“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.”

“What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There
are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven.”

“For me there can be no recreation in the company of others, no intelligent
conversation, no exchange of information with peers; only the most pressing
needs can make me venture into society. I am obliged to live like an outcast.”

“I love a tree more than a man.”

“Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est.
[Said on his deathbed]”