A2 AREAS OF STUDY: MUSIC FOR SMALL ENSEMBLE
NAM 17: BEETHOVEN’S SEPTET IN Eb
FIRST MOVEMENT
General Background
Beethoven was taught for a while by Haydn, and it is said that the only work of Beethoven that
Haydn truly admired was this septet! Unsurprisingly then, this work is one of Beethoven’s most
classical works, written in 1799 when he was only 29. It is a large-scale piece (seven players, and
six movements), and therefore lacks some of the intimacy often associated with chamber music
(e.g. NAM 16 – Haydn string quartet). Beethoven was later to become the composer often heralded
as the ‘bridge’ between the Classical and the Romantic period, but the latter style and mood is not
in evidence here. The work was greatly admired by B’s contemporary critics, although he himself
later said of it: ‘In those days I did not know how to compose. Now I think I do.’
The septet was first performed privately (like most 18th century chamber music), but was repeated
a few weeks later at a public concert in the Royal Imperial Court Theatre, Vienna. Beethoven’s
first symphony was actually premiered at the same concert!
When B offered his new septet to a publisher in 1800 he described all of the instrumental parts as
obbligato parts. He meant that they were all essential for a proper interpretation of the work. It
had been standard practice in the past, in earlier classical divertimenti for wind and strings, for
one or more instruments to be missing, or instruments substituted depending on what was available.
Remember that the clarinet and horn parts are transposed. (Cl in Bb, horn in Eb). Alto and tenor
clefs are also used in the string parts.
STRUCTURE/FORM
Adagio

The movement begins with a slow introduction that moves from the opening tonic chord of
Eb major to which chord in bar 8?

What word best describes the opening bar in terms of texture?

How does B achieve dramatic contrast immediately in terms of texture?

Circle the 4 violin notes starting just after the rest in bar 8. These will dominate much of
the material later on in the movement – most noticeably at the start of the Allegro con brio
in the violin! This was a pattern established in many of Haydn’s symphonies of the 1790s.

How are bars 10-12 related to 8-10? Comment especially on the key! This is entirely
decorative, and typical of the galant style.

The ornate violin melody is answered by the clarinet in bar 17. What word best describes
this movement?

What chord does the Adagio finish on (in Eb)? What is the effect of this?
Allegro con brio
The allegro con brio is in the standard form for first movements of the classical period – sonata
form. See if you can manage to add the correct bar numbers and keys to the following structural
features of the form:
BAR NO.
SONATA FORM SECTION
KEY
EXPOSITION IN GENERAL
EXPOSITION (1ST SUBJECT)
EXPOSITION (2ND SUBJECT)
DEVELOPMENT
RECAPITULATION IN GENERAL
RECAP OF 1ST SUBJECT
RECAP OF 2ND SUBJECT
CODA

What do you notice about the length of the exposition / development / recapitulation /
coda, in relation to each other?
Exposition
The first subject starts with a version of the 4-note motif from the intro.

How is this treated in bars 18-20?

What does the clarinet play 28-39?

How would you describe the string accompaniment at this point?
The second subject (53) has a very different character: homophonic texture (3 part strings
playing minims). When it is repeated in the wind, the strings play the lively quavers as an
accompaniment though.
Another second subject theme appears in 61-68, shared between violin, clarinet, and bassoon.

How does the scoring differ on the repeat 69-74?
A third idea (still belonging to the second subject) appears 86-88 – the staccato chordal phrase.

How is it treated 88-90?

How is it treated 90-92?

What standard cadential pattern from the classical period finishes the second subject in
bars 97-98?
98(beat 3) – 111 form a codetta. This reinforces the dominant key of Bb.

What 2 instruments between them hold a tonic pedal from 98-106?
The one-bar phrase at the start of this codetta will be very important later on.

How is it treated 100-102?

How many perfect cadences finish off the exposition?
Development

The idea of development is generally confined to the simple sequential treatment of melodic
fragments from the exposition, e.g. the melody from 98-102 appears in 116-124. Complete
the following table, detailing where the themes from the exposition can be found, and
what has been ‘developed’ about them.
SECTION FROM EXPOSITION
WHERE IN D’MENT, AND HOW DEVELOPED
1ST SUBJECT (18)
2ND SUBJECT PT 1 (53)
2ND SUBJECT PT 2 (61-68)
2ND SUBJECT PT 3 (86-88)
CODETTA MOTIF (98)

Only closely related keys are used. Complete the following tonality table for the
development section:
BARS
KEY
112
119-121
123-128
132-136

Where does the dominant preparation for the recapitulation start? (Chord V = Bb!)
Recapitulation
The recapitulation starts with a rescored repeat of 18-20, but a sudden modulation to Ab in 170172 leads to more development of earlier material, until at 182, B returns to Eb major for a repeat
of bars 47-98 in the tonic key.
Coda

The coda is very long. Where do bars 233-245 come from?

There is almost a brief second development from 246-277. What key is indicated here?
(This is typical in many closing sections of the 18th century.)

The four-note motif from the codetta is further developed also (starting in the cello at
249). At this point, where does the horn melody come from?

What is the violin playing here (250+)?

How are bars 258+ related to the previous 8 bars?

What dramatic chord can you hear in bar 248?

How could you describe the melodic material from about 266-277?

The first perfect cadence in Eb occurs 276/277. From 278-the end, how many more
perfect cadences are there?

The new trill figure introduced at the end helps to increase excitement towards the end of
the movement.
Texture
Beethoven said that all the instruments were essential, but they do not all have an equal share of
interesting material!
Which instruments do you believe have the most important roles melodically?
Complete the following table, examining the function and use of the instruments throughout the
movement:
INSTRUMENT
FUNCTION / ROLE
(In general, and at particular places of
interest)
CLARINET
BASSOON
HORN
VIOLIN
VIOLA
CELLO
DOUBLE BASS

Do the cello and double bass ever work independently?
While Beethoven’s textures are varied. There is very little counterpoint (polyphonic material).
Passages such as 249-264, where there is contrapuntal interplay, are rare. The main texture is
‘melody plus accompaniment.’
Harmony
The harmony is largely diatonic, almost always functional, and very reliant on chords I and V in
all inversions.
Like much 18th century music, the rate of chord change is usually slow in the first half of the
phrase, then faster towards the cadence, (which often ends with the cadential 6/4 classical
fingerprint!)
Examine the rate of chord change in the first phrase of the Allegro (19-29):
Bars
Chord
19
I
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
All the chords above are diatonic, and there are lots of key-defining chords (I, II, V). The table
also demonstrates functional progressions.
Although there are some chromatic chords (the augmented sixths!), these still resolve to the
expected chords in the following bars.
Melody
While the harmony is mostly diatonic, the melody is littered with chromaticisms.

What specific chromatic melodic embellishments can you spot in bars 18-21 at the start of
the allegro? (These are also typical of the galant style.)
Ornaments (classical influence) also feature in the melodic lines here and there.

What ornament appears in the violin line 163?
Another typically classical feature of the melody is the periodic phrasing. The phrases are almost
always balanced, and often consist of antecedent-consequent pairings (question and answer).
In the main development section, for example, the melody of bars 116-136 consists of sequential
pairs of 2-bar phrases. The first 2 (in the clarinet) form a 4-bar antecedent, answered by a 4-bar
consequent in the horn.

What key and cadence ends each of these phrases?
There are also many melodic exchanges between the instruments, (e.g. violin and woodwind 61-65),
typical of the dialogue technique that Haydn learned from Mozart, and seen here in Beethoven!

Find a couple of other examples of melodic exchanges:
Final Questions
1. What is meant by (i) functional harmony, and (ii) a cadential 6/4? Find an example of each in
NAM 17. (4)
2. Compare bars 2 and 4. (3)
3. Write out the following bars (using either treble or bass clef – whichever is most
appropriate) at sounding pitch:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
horn part, 34-37 inc.
clarinet bar 36
viola bar 1
cello 86/3-88.
(8)
4. Compare and contrast bars 52/4 -56/3, with bars 56/4 – 60/1. Include the following terms
in your answer: periodic phrasing, antecedent, consequent, and rate of harmonic change.
(10)
5. What is notable about the coda of this work? (10)
6. Outline the form and tonality of this movement. (10)
7. Discuss Beethoven’s use of instrumentation in NAM 17. (10)
8. To what extent is NAM 17 typical of 18th-century classicism? / What style is prevalent in
NAM 17? / What musical influences can be traced in NAM 17? (10)