Chapter 14:
Beethoven
Beethoven and
the Symphony
Key Terms
Rhythmic drive
Motivic consistency
Psychological
progression
Scherzo
Fragmentation
Rhythmic motive
Ludwig van Beethoven (1)
(1770-1827)
Son & grandson of Bonn court musicians
To Vienna in 1792 to study with Haydn
Began a career as pianist & composer
Progressive deafness diagnosed in 1802
• Beethoven considered suicide
• Chose to devote his life to his art instead
His music now took on a new urgency
Forceful, strong-willed, uncompromising
• He all but demanded support from nobility
Ludwig van Beethoven (2)
(1770-1827)
Probably the 1st person to make a career
solely from composing
• Seen as a genius, he seemed to live for his art
• Many affairs, but he never married
Totally deaf by 1820
Adopted his orphan nephew in later years
• Beethoven was much too overprotective
• Shock of his nephew’s suicide attempt
hastened his own death
20,000 attended Beethoven’s funeral
Beethoven and
the Symphony (1)
Beethoven created excitement & urgency
by maximizing musical elements
• Higher and lower registers
• Sharper syncopations & stronger accents
• Harsher dissonances that must struggle to
arrive at yet more profound resolutions
• New demands on instruments
• Expansion of the orchestra
• Classical forms stretched to their limits
Beethoven and
the Symphony (2)
Beethoven wrote only nine symphonies
• He wrote many more piano sonatas (32) &
string quartets (16)
But Beethoven is associated especially
with the symphony
• Wrote some of the greatest symphonies ever
• Orchestra provided the greatest range of
expression, variety, & sheer volume
• Even his sonatas & quartets of 1800-1810
sound like symphonies – and require new
techniques of piano & string playing!
Beethoven and
the Symphony (3)
Beethoven’s “symphonic ideal” can be
observed in his Fifth Symphony (1808)
Three main features have impressed
generations of listeners
• Rhythmic drive
• Motivic consistency
• Psychological progression
Rhythmic Drive
Blunt, even ferocious rhythms produce a
palpable physical impact
Beethoven hammers the meter
• Emphasizes meter & disrupts it with equal
vigor
• Piles accent upon accent, rhythm upon rhythm
• Rhythmic motives surge forward
Long-range rhythmic planning & goals
A far cry from the elegance & wit of
Classical style
Motivic Consistency
Constant repetition of a single motive
• Especially in 1st movement of Symphony 5
Motive repeated, yet constantly varied
Variations never sound random
• Motive becomes more significant & vivid as
work progresses
• Creates a feeling of organic growth – like a
plant’s leaves growing from a single seed
Psychological Progression
Symphony no longer simply 4 contrasting
movements
Beethoven now traces a coherent &
dramatic psychological progression
“There fate knocks at the door!”
• Beethoven on the 1st movement
• But Fate is trampled under by a military march
in the the last movement
Symphony now expresses an inspirational
life process – a drama to rival opera!
The Scherzo
Beethoven substitutes a scherzo for the
traditional minuet
Italian word scherzo = joke
Aristocratic minuet too formal
Scherzo shares a few features with minuet
• A B A form & triple meter
But scherzo was much faster
• Rhythmic drive & frequent syncopation give it
a brusque, jocular, even violent feel
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, I
(1)
Motivic consistency prominent here
A single rhythmic motive dominates
•
•
•
•
It forms the first theme
It initiates the bridge
It appears as background to lyrical 2nd theme
It emerges again in the cadence material
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, I
(2)
• It is used throughout the development
• It continues to grow in the long coda
Motive gives the work a gripping urgency
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, I
(3)
Listen for—
• Arresting, primal first statement of Theme 1
motives separated by fermatas
• Horn-call bridge announces Theme 2
• Theme 1 variant announces the development
• Thematic fragmentation in the development
• Oboe cadenza in the recapitulation
• Recapitulation’s 2nd group in major key
• LONG, developmental coda with new theme
• Main motive repeated & varied in every bar!
The Remaining Movements
First movement ends with a standoff at the
end of a heroic struggle
Later movements respond to and resolve
this struggle
The rhythmic motive recurs in each
movement to remind us of the struggle
C minor passages also recall the struggle
C major passages point to the ultimate
triumph over Fate
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, II
Double theme & variations form
• Six variations on Theme 1
Primary key is A-flat major
• Modulates to C major 3 times for powerful,
triumphant fanfare passages
• Rhythmic motive appears in mysterious
retransition to A-flat
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, III
(1)
Scherzo movement in A B A form
A section recalls 1st movement
• Spooky a theme is in C minor with fermata
interruptions
• Rhythmic motive dominates forceful b theme
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, III
(2)
B section (Trio) points to Fate’s defeat
• Humorous fugal section in C major
Return of A completely transformed
• Mysterious pizzicato & oboe
• Leads into doubly mysterious transition
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5,
IV (1)
Eerie transition leads directly into IV
• Rhythmic motive in timpani
• Music grows gradually louder & clearer
• At climax, full orchestra (with trombones)
announces marchlike 1st theme of the 4th
movement – in C major
Straightforward sonata form movement
• Theme 2 based on the rhythmic motive
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5,
IV (2)
End of development brings back 3rd
movement’s b theme & eerie transition
• A final reminder of the struggle
Recapitulation & coda provide a great Cmajor celebration
• No surprises in recapitulation
• LONG coda in three sections revisits previous
themes
• Final section accelerates tempo for a rousing
Presto finale
• Ending drives home C major chord
Conclusions
The dramatic strength & rhythmic power of
this work went far beyond earlier music
Beethoven unified the symphony
• Motives appear in more than one movement
• Movements can be connected without pause
• The symphony narrates a dramatic “story”
Beethoven single-handedly changed the
nature of the symphony genre
• Never again would the symphony be a simple
entertainment