Beethoven Flashcards
Melody
Introduction - Ascending - descending chromatic scale - diminished chords - staccato
First theme - Rising - scalic - staccato
Second theme - Rising then falls - ornamented - lyrical - staccato
Many scalic passages
Ornaments
Arpeggios and broken chords
Harmony
Mainly diatonic with standard chords
Some dissonance and complex chords
Perfect cadences mark the ends of sections - functional harmony
Pedal notes (e.g. end of development)
Pedal creates a tremolo effect at the beginning of the exposition
Interrupted cadence near the end of the introduction
Some dominant 7th chords
Occasional suspensions
Circle of fifths progression in the recapitulation
Alberti bass in the exposition
Texture
Mainly homophonic texture, common for classical music
There is a monophonic descending scale leading into the exposition and recapitulation
The introduction is played in homophonic chordal texture
Middle voicing quavers near the end of the exposition
Structure
Sonata Form
Introduction - Exposition - Development - Recapitulation - Coda
Metre + Tempo
Grave introduction - very slow
Main tempo is allegro di molto e con brio - fast and lively
Metre is 4/4 in introduction
Mostly written in 2/2
Tonality
Mainly in C minor
There are several modulations throughout the development section
The first subject is in C minor
The second subject is in Eb minor, before moving to C minor’s relative major, Eb major
In the recapitulation, the second subject is played in F minor, the subdominant of C
Perfect cadences confirm key changes
Rhythm
There are some very rapid notes - short note value
Some use of septuplets
1/128th notes in the introduction
Instruments
Written for piano (fortepiano)
Piano allows for more dynamic possibilities - lots of dynamic markings like crescendos and fp - wide range of dynamics
Expressive dynamics - romantic
Hands sometimes cross over - uses a range of 5 octaves
