The customary division of Beethoven's artistic life into three periods[37] is based on these internal differences observable in his works. Those of the first period, extending to about 1803, of which the most important are the piano sonatas up to opus 53, the first three piano concertos, the string quartets, opus 18, and the first and second symphonies, show him under the influence of Haydn and Mozart, though already more poignant, impassioned, and forcible than his models.
In the second period, the period of full and vigorous maturity, extending from 1803 to 1813, he throws off all restricting traditions, and stands forth a heroic figure, the like of which music had never seen, and may never see again. The compositions of this decade, among which may be specially mentioned the piano sonatas from the "Waldstein" to opus 90, the fourth and fifth piano concertos, the unique concerto for violin, the string quartets, opus 59 and opus 74, the overtures "Coriolanus" and "Egmont," the opera "Fidelio," the great Mass in C, and above all the six magnificent symphonies from the "Eroica" to the eighth, are among the supreme achievements of human art. They combine the utmost variety of form and style with a perfect unity; they are models of structure for all time; and as to expression, one knows not what to marvel at most, their rugged virility and intensity of passion, their deep pathos and tender sentiment, their moods of effervescent merriment, humor, and whimsical perversity, or their almost superhuman moments of mystical elevation.
The third period, extending from 1813 to Beethoven's death in 1827, is as we have said characterized by an almost excessive individuality, and is difficult to relate to the normal progress of musical art. Nevertheless it contains some of his greatest works—notably the Ninth Symphony, the Mass in D, and the final sonatas and quartets. The detailed study of it falls outside the province of this book.
With this brief and necessarily cursory survey of Beethoven's achievement in its entirety, we may pass on to the examination of a single typical work, hoping in the course of it to make clearer to the student the two main facts about Beethoven on which we have been trying to insist: his indebtedness to his predecessors in the matters of general structure and style, and the indomitable originality by virtue of which all that he does is infused with a novel beauty and an unparalleled profundity of feeling. We shall choose for our first example one of the finest compositions of his first period—the "Path?ique Sonata," for piano, opus 13, taking up in later chapters some typical examples of his more advanced style.
II. ANALYSIS OF A BEETHOVEN SONATA.
EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 17.
Beethoven: Piano Sonata, Opus 13. First movement.
It will be noted that Beethoven adds to the three traditional sections of the sonata-form an introduction in slow tempo (of which we saw an earlier example in Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony) and a brief coda, based on the main material of the movement, to round out the complete movement satisfactorily. In his later work both of these additional sections came often to figure very prominently, the increased development he gave to them being indeed one of his most important contributions to sonata-form. We shall see in his Fifth Symphony a fine example of his treatment of the coda, which raises it to a dignity equal to that of the other organic sections. The introduction of the Fourth Symphony extends to thirty-eight measures of slow tempo, that of the Seventh Symphony to sixty-two measures, with great variety of treatment.
The general structure of this movement, which is in extended sonata-form, is shown in the following tabular view:
TABULAR VIEW OF STRUCTURE OF FIRST MOVEMENT
OF THE PATH?IQUE SONATA.
| Sections. | Themes. | Measures. |
| Slow Introduction | 1-10 | |
| Exposition (A) | First theme, C minor | 11-27 |
| Transition, based on first theme | 27-50 | |
| Duality of | Second theme, E-flat minor | 51-88 |
| Harmony | Codetta or Conclusion section, E-flat major | 89-134 |
| Consisting of | ||
| Conclusion-theme I | 89-112 | |
| Conclusion-theme II | 113-120 | |
| Reminiscence of theme I | 121-134 | |
| Development (B) | Introduction-motive | 135-138 |
| Plurality of | Theme I and Introduction-motive treated | 139-196 |
| Harmony | ||
| Recapitulation (A) | First theme, C minor | 197-209 |
| New transition | 209-222 | |
| Unity of | Second theme, F minor | 223-254 |
| Harmony | Codetta, C minor | 255-296 |
| Coda | 297-312 | |
| Consisting of | ||
| Introduction motive | 297-300 | |
| First theme, reminiscence | 301-311 |