The Masters and Their Music / A series of illustrative programs with biographical, / esthetical, and critical annotations

by W. S. B. Mathews

The second variation is much more broken. The left hand plays the bass upon the beat, while the right hand comes in with a chord containing the melody at the half beat. The third variation brings the melody again in the bass, with an accompaniment figure in sixteenths for the right hand. At the end there is a lovely coda of six measures. Throughout these variations the harmony and the melody have not been changed. Only the place of the melody and the rhythm of the accessory accompanying figures have been changed.

A still more remarkable illustration of this phase of the Beethoven genius is found in the andante and variations which form the second movement of the Sonata Appassionata, opus 57. Here the variations are not indicated in the notation, but the player has to find them for himself, which is easy enough, because the two periods of the theme, each of eight measures, are exactly repeated in the following variations.

The theme itself has a church-like character, almost "sacred." This is due to the first harmonic step from tonic to subdominant and back again, in the manner of the "Amen" cadence so well known in anthems. In the second period there is an intense and almost strained expression due to the chord of 4-2, the seventh low in the bass. The first variation plays the melody in the same place as in the theme, and in the same chords; but the bass enters a half beat later and holds over, so that a restless and searching expression results. The second variation, again, is very reposeful. The melody is only suggested in the upper tones of the right-hand part, and the sixteenth motion is intended to have a certain chord-like character; meanwhile the bass has a part somewhat like a melody suitable for 'cello. The third variation brings the melody high in the treble (later changing again to the left hand in the middle range of the piano), while the left hand performs an arpeggio figure in thirty-seconds. At the end a lovely coda of sixteen measures, recalling the theme in its original form. Throughout these variations not only is the harmony and melody of the theme never varied, excepting in time of coming in, but the spirit of the theme is everywhere retained. Observe that the coda is not concluded, but interrupted by the entrance of a diminished chord, leading into the key of F minor. In place of this chord, end with a chord of D-flat, directly after the dominant chord preceding the diminished chord, when the finale is not to be played.

Quite different from the foregoing are the highly humoristic variations of the Sonata, opus 26. These, being designated in the copy, require only mention and characterization. The theme is three periods in length, the second opening with a syncopation. The first variation follows the harmony of the theme, but in a broken manner, not alone in the cutting up into sixteenth notes, but also in changes of position upon the keyboard. This tendency to excitement continues in the second variation, where the melody is in the bass, in octaves broken into sixteenth notes. The third variation changes the mode to minor, and the musical treatment contains strong syncopations, implying much suppressed passion. The fourth variation is a scherzo, bounding from one point of the keyboard to another, like a musical Ariel. The fifth variation returns to the harmony and manner of the theme, but in the first eight measures the melody is held in reserve, suggested rather than fully brought out, in order that the complete appearance of the melody, legato, in the ninth measure shall be more effective. The whole closes with a beautiful coda of fifteen measures. (Count back from the end, if you do not find it at first.)

Still more humoristic is the scherzo from the Sonata in C, opus 2, No. 3. Here the principal subject is quite in fugue style, excepting the order of keys. In place of answering in the fifth, it answers in the octave.

It is unnecessary to add that this is a pure fancy-piece, the imitations being unexpected and capricious, and never for the sake of completing a pattern or form. The trio is a complete contrast, and very free and effective upon the keyboard. Then, after the return of the scherzo, we have a delightful coda of twenty-three measures.

Less pronounced, but very beautiful, is the allegretto from the so-called "Moonlight Sonata," opus 27, No. 2. This is gentle, and designed to mediate between the intense sadness of the first movement and the equally intense and impassioned sorrow and longing of the finale.

The sonata-piece is one of the most serious and diversified movements known to music, and while continuous and characterized by great unity, it is also rather complicated. Hence it will not be properly appreciated except by those who observe the leading ideas as they enter and recall them when they turn up again in the course of the treatment and development. When a sonata is written for orchestra it becomes a symphony, in which form the different ideas are more easily followed because they derive a certain individuality from the tone-color of the instrument first announcing them. When an artist plays a sonata he seeks to intensify the individuality of the leading ideas and thus aid the hearer in recognizing and remembering them.

The first example of sonata-piece is the rather light and pleasing allegro which begins the Sonata in G, opus 14, No. 2. The Principal subject lasts through twenty-four measures, the Second entering in the key of D with the beginning of the twenty-fifth measure. The Conclusion begins with the forty-seventh measure. Counting from the double bar, the Elaboration lasts, including the pedal point upon the dominant which prepares for bringing back the Principal, sixty-one measures. There the first part begins over again.

The first movement of the Sonata in F minor, opus 2, No. 1, is shorter and the subjects less marked than in any other sonata of Beethoven. It also has less "stuffing," the ideas following with very little passage work between them. The Principal lasts twenty measures, the Second beginning with the F-flat in the soprano at the end of the twentieth measure. The Conclusion begins with the C-flat in the soprano, in measure forty-one. The Elaboration lasts sixty-two measures.