Listening Guide 2 - Beethoven Op 2. No. 1

Beethoven Op 2. No. 1 in F Minor -

Ludvig Von Beethoven was baptized on December 17th, 1770, which is the date we use as the beginning of Beethoven's life. Beethoven's father, Johannes Beethoven, wanted Ludvig to be like Mozart, a child prodigy. Because of his father's motivation and Beethoven's great skill, had his first known performance in Cologne, at the young age of 7 ½.

Beethoven also did not waste any time becoming a great composer. In 1782, before the age of 12, Beethoven published his first work, 9 variations, in C Minor, for Piano, on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler. Later, Beethoven went to Vienna in 1787 to meet Mozart, who evidently approved saying, “Don't forget his name - you will hear it spoken often.” The death of Beethoven's mother struck a devastating loss to the family, forcing him back to home to help take care of the family, as his father in his alcoholism did not suffice as a family head.

In 1792 Beethoven returns to Vienna to further his education by Haydn, then with Albrechtsberger and Salieri. Here, Haydn becomes an extremely important teacher and style-basis for Beethovens compositions. Tragically, in 1801, Beethoven admits his concern for becoming deaf, something that acted as a grave source of depression. Admirably, this great, driven musician continued to compose, conduct, and perform although completely deaf by the time his career ended. He died March 26th 1827.

Beethoven is a composer who fits between the Classical composers like Mozart and Haydn, and Romantic Composers like Schubert and Mendelssohn. He is known as a transitional composer between these two eras.

Op 2. No. 1, Sonata fur Pianoforte, or Sonata for Piano, was written in 1795. It is dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn, one of his teachers in Vienna, whose style he adopted for quite some time. Beethoven is known to have been a revolutionary of the “Third relation” technique, where in the tonal plan of the form, one modulates to a key region a third away (i-III-i), rather than the usual I-V-I, which is evident throughout the piece.

Beethoven is said to have three main writing styles. The first, before 1805 where, as mentioned before, sees heavy influence by Haydn and Mozart. Two famous examples are Moonlight Sonata (1801), and Pathétique(1797). It is in this first style that this piece, Op 2. No. 1 Sonata for Piano is written. The second of Beethoven's styles, 1805 – 1816 represents an entirely different section of his life. His deafness starts to significantly sink in. Beethoven becomes noticibly more political. A famous example of this is Eroica(originally for Napoleon) which he later scratched out, and rededicated to Prince Ferdinand Lobkowitz, once Napoleon was no longer a hero of his. Two other extrordinary works of this period are the outstanding Coriolan(1807), and Fur Elise(1810). Finally, Beethoven's final style, After 1816 comes into play. Elsewhere in the world, the Conference of Vienna 1815 (downfall of Napoleon) was taking place in world news. This revolutionary event set the stage for Beethoven's final, most intense, and dramatic stage. Trials of conflict within the family, ends his cycle of ‘Lieders' or songs, and leads to his elaborate and passionate, Ninth Symphony in D Minor, finally finished after seven years in 1824.

You may follow along in the following section as you listen to this great work. To see direct musical examples from the score better, click them to enlarge the excerpt.

The piece opens with the first movement in the spirit of Haydn, with an “ascending rocket” as its principal theme, and the second theme, in the relative major (III) consists of a more lyrical passage, accompanied by eighth notes. This movement has the form of a Sonatina as follows:

First Theme:

Second Theme:


The second movement Adagio calls for that singing style of performance for which Beethoven is well known, as the principal theme, starting in F Major, is elaborated and embellished. This Adagio is adapted from the slow movement of a piano quartet from 1785, one of Beethoven’s first compositions.
Second Movement Principal Theme:

The Third movement, called the Minuet in F minor, with his contrasting F major Trio, presages later Scherzo movements, meaning what would be the normal trio section instead being a little faster and more fierce, but still in 3/4 time. Beethoven also does something special here, going from F Minor to F Major, called using parallel keys, where you use two different key signatures, but with the same tonic, in this case, F.
Minuet theme:

Trio (Scherzo) theme:

The final Prestissimo, in F Major, brings a touch of fire to the slower, tamer other three movements. The eighth-note triplets drive the piece as a rhythmic ostinato, leading to a more peaceful, but still ‘agitato’ section in the minor-five relation, C Minor. Next, a new idea occurs in Ab Major (again, a third relation), while developing the rhythm of the first theme as well as the driven eighth-note triplets from the first theme. After an extended retransition back to the original key, F Minor, Beethoven Recapitulates the first in F Minor to conclude the piece.
First Theme:

Second Theme:

Development:

First theme Recapitulated in F Minor:


Works Cited For Further Research:

Prevot, Dominique. "Biography: Beethoven's life - Ludwig van Beethoven's website - Dominique PR." Ludwig van Beethoven : le site - Ludwig van Beethoven's Website - Ludwig van Beethoven in immagini ed in musica. Dominique PREVOT. Dec. 2001. Web. 08 Feb. 2010. ..

"Work Information." Naxos Music Library. Web. 08 Feb. 2010. . .

Listening Guide 1 - Mozart K.550

Mozart’s Symphony in G Minor, No. 40 (K550) was completed on July 25, 1788 in Vienna. Mozart has 626 pieces cataloged in total, and Mozart died on December 5, 1791, so Symphony No. 40 was composed near the end of Mozart’s life. Mozart's music falls into the Classical Period.

The beginning: Mozart was born in 1756. W.A. Mozart mastered his first piece before his fifth birthday. His father, Leopold Mozart jotted down in a journal that it took less than 30 minutes for Mozart to learn it. Leopold had immediate aims of continuing the musical education of W.A. Mozart, and his older sister, Anna Marie Mozart, who he took on their first tour to Munich in 1762. From the earliest stages, W.A. Mozart was celebrated as a prodigy of music.

Around the time of the composition: One of Mozart’s most famous compositions, Eine kleine Nachtmusik (K. 525) was composed in 1787, just one year before. Another of Mozart’s famous compositions, Don Giovanni (K. 527) premiered in the same year as Symphony No. 40, which ran for 15 performances at the National Court Theater. In the world during this time, the United States Constitution was being ratified.

About the composition: The form of the fourth movement of Symphony No. 40, and one of the most significant forms in the history of music, is the Sonata form. Starting in the late Baroque period, Sonata form has been widely used by composers and appreciated by theorists for now, hundreds of years. Some composers that frequently used Sonata form are Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Sonata form usually consists of an introduction, exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda.

The exposition introduces the main theme, transitions to a closely related key, introduces a secondary theme, and closes in a codetta, or short closing music, ending in a perfect authentic cadence in the new key, as to set up the development section.
First theme: (click on any picture to enlarge)

Second theme:


The development section contains sections of the first and second theme, altering them by modulating through new key regions, introducing or modifying motives, and occasionally juxtaposing, or melding themes together, creating a section of interesting and less stable rhythm and tonality, returning or ‘retransitioning’ to the original key of the piece, setting up for the recapitulation.
Developing the first theme at the beginning of the development:

The most beautiful feature of this famous work, is that the development section movies through three key regions and then comes a rapid spurt of fifteen keys and key regions (including borrowed keys and remote keys) over the course of 50 measures (m.151-201) before finally cadencing in the home key, g minor.

The recapitulation ‘recaps’ or restates the first theme, and transitions to the secondary theme, now in the ‘home’ key rather than a closely related key regaining stability to the piece, and thus setting the piece up for a closing.
Second Theme 'recapped' in the home key:


Although Symphony No.40 does not, a sonata can optionally end in a coda, which is an extension of the piece, usually to elaborate on past themes and motives, occasionally introducing new thematic material, called terminal development, and cadences in the original key of the piece.
Symphony No. 40 is written in G Minor, which according to studies of key meanings, is associated with seriousness and magnificence, combined with spirited loveliness, which you may listen for in the beautiful harmonies and textures of this piece.

Lastly, as you listen, you may use these guidelines to follow the form:
Exposition:
m.1 - Exposition begins in g minor(i = tonic), primary theme is introudced in a repeated period binary design.
m.32 - begin transition to secondary theme
m.70 - Secondary theme begins in Bb Major, (relative-major key(III) to home key, g minor(i))
m. 101 - the exposition comes to a close, cadencing in Bb Major in m. 124.
Development:
m.125 - Development begins developing the primary theme, then movies through 18 different keys and key regions before landing on tonic.
m.206 - Recapitulation begins, introducing the Primary theme, transition, and secondary theme in the home key, creating stability through the end of the piece.


Further research can be done here:
Boerner, Steve. "Biography." The Mozart Project. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .
Boerner, Steve. "Symphonies, Symphony Movements." The Mozart Project. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .
"A little history of the Sonata." Music history and timeline at Classical Works. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .