EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 23.
Beethoven: Scherzo from the Fifteenth Sonata, opus 28.
The tempo is again brisk—"allegro vivace."
The theme is exceedingly whimsical: long notes jumping down through four octaves—first single notes, then thirds, then sixths—followed each time by a quaint little cadence in which the staccato touch is prominent.
The section of contrast after the double-bar (measures 33-48) takes the form of a sequence, in which the left hand part carries the original theme.
In the return of the theme we find one of those violent dynamic contrasts so beloved by Beethoven, the theme in measures 49-53 being sounded in a mild piano and then, without warning, in measures 58-61, pealed forth fortissimo in large chords.
The trio is again inconspicuous, save for its charming harmonization.
These two scherzos give a good idea of how Beethoven gives play to his whimsicality in his piano sonatas,[50] but to get the Beethoven scherzo at its highest power we must go to the symphonies. There he has all the wondrous potentialities of instrumental coloring to fire his imagination, and a canvas broad enough to afford scope for endless ingenuity. It is a fascinating study to trace out how he gradually advanced in the power to utilize all these possibilities.