Beethoven and the New Development-Theme in Sonata-Form Movements
Author(s): Bathia Churgin
Source: The Journal of Musicology , Summer, 1998, Vol. 16, No. 3, New Perspectives on
Beethoven Sources and Style (Summer, 1998), pp. 323-343
Published by: University of California Press
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oBeethoven and the New
Development-Theme
in Sonata-Form Movements
BATHIA CHURGIN
A well-known feature of the development section
in Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, first movement, is the prominent
new theme. This was not a novel effect, however, for in Classic music the
introduction of a new theme in the development, or, more accurately,
new developmental material is an old device. What is new about the
Eroica's new theme is its dramatic and dissonant preparation, the extremely
remote key in which it first appears-e minor, enharmonically
the minor Neapolitan of the tonic Eb major-and the five-fold repetition
of the theme.' Three presentations occur in the development,
each beginning in a different key-e minor, a minor, and e b minor, and
two near the start of the long coda, in the keys of f minor-the normal
second degree-and again in eb minor (the theme begins in mm. 284,
292, 322, 581, and 589). This quintessential example of a new development-theme
will be our paradigm against which we can measure other
such examples.
If we examine the tradition in which Beethoven composed, we find
that new themes, phrases, motives, and figurations (which I will designate
as N) occur in the development section of sonata-form movements
from the earliest phase of the Classic period onward. For example, such
ideas appear before 1740 in many movements of early symphonies by
G. B. Sammartini and Antonio Brioschi. In first movements of two Sammartini
symphonies, J-C 7 and 65, the composer introduces distinctive
Volume XVI - Number 3 * Summer 1998
The Journal of Musicology @ 1998 by the Regents of the University of California
I Because of the many references to keys in this survey, major keys are indicated by
capital letters and minor keys by lower-case letters. Lower-case Roman numerals stand for
minor chords or key relationships.
323
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 1. G. B. Sammartini, Symphony in C Major, J-C 7/I:
tial theme (K) and start of the development with IN.
41 m
Vn. I
Ava
S 11 m. "Pv. bass-motive
45 0-,
E EO.P
B. P+'" t' r
-" " '" ' !d I" ' ' ;
324
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CHURGIN
themes, the more significant ones in one of the e
Sammartini symphonies, J-C 7 in C major, probably c
(Example 1).2
Here, two new themes are placed in the key of the mediant--e
minor-a fairly remote key for Sammartini. IN is 18 mm. long and 2N
8 mm. Like many later N themes, these themes contain both new and
derived elements, the second theme also related to the first. In 1N, a
derived motive (here, a bass motive) accompanies the theme as well, a
technique later found in some Beethoven N themes (see Example 5).
The bass motive returns at the start of the recapitulation combined with
the cadential (K) theme, from which it most closely derives. In addition,
2N comes back in the recapitulation in the tonic minor. The recurrence
of a new theme or idea in the recapitulation thus has a long history.
The use of new material in the development may reflect the influence
of the B section of the da capo aria, as Leonard Ratner suggests.s
Recall of such material in the recapitulation may well stem from a similar
procedure found in late Baroque concerto movements in ritornello
form, which often incorporate ideas presented later in the movement
in a final recapitulation section.4
That the development can contain new material should not surprise
us since Classic sonata form is basically a tonal, not a thematic
plan. New material in this section has many functions, such as contrast,
surprise, enrichment, intensification, and structural articulation. Obviously,
each example of new material must be studied individually in
order to comprehend fully its role in the movement's structure.
Theorists like Koch, Galeazzi, Reicha, and Czerny all mention the
possibility of introducing a new theme or idea, first of all at the opening
of Part II of a sonata-form movement. Galeazzi (1796) specifies
such new themes as one of the standard options at this point in the
2 For the score and analysis of J-C 7, see my edition, Giovanni Battista Sammartini,
Ten Symphonies, "The Symphony, 1720-1840," ed. Barry S. Brook, Series A, vol. 2 (New
York and London, 1984), Score 1. The Symphony J-C 65 (dated before 1738) is published
in my edition, The Symphonies of G. B. Sammartini. Volume I: The Early Symphonies
(Cambridge, MA, 1968), No. 16 in the volume). For new developmental material in all
three movements of Brioschi's symphony in G, Fonds Blancheton 32 (dated before October
1733), see my edition and analysis in "The Symphony, 1720-1840," Series A, vol. 3
(1985), Score 1.
3 Leonard G. Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style (New York, 1980), 229,
233.
4 Examples can be found in Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto, Op. 3 No. 8/III (pub.
171 1), where a variant of the modulatory Solo 2 moving from a to e (mm. 35-50) returns
in the tonic near the end of the movement (mm. 132-41); and inJ. S. Bach's Italian Concerto/III
(1735), where new material in F-B6 (mm. 77-84) returns in the reprise section
in BV-C-F (mm. 155-66).
325
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
structure,5 while Koch (1793) states that the device is common on
the concerto.6 Much later, Czerny (1848?) broadens the possibili
observes that in the first section of Part II "the ideas of the firs
must be displayed, developed, worked up, and necessarily augme
with new ones."7 Reicha's remarks (c. 1825) are both more far rea
and more specific. He indicates that at the start of Part II, a new
can be 8-16 mm. long and be developed together with earlier
New ideas can be further introduced in Part II and especially in
coda.8
After about 174o, new themes in symphonic allegros, especially firs
movements, usually occur at the beginning of Part II, as describe
much later by the theorists. Such themes are often cantabile and pian
providing lyrical and broader rhythmic contrasts otherwise lacking in
the movement. These themes may also be imitative, or feature th
winds; they may remain in the second key or be modulatory; and they
may have some derived material or figures. In all such cases, the chang
in theme, rhythm, dynamics, texture, orchestration, and expression
strongly articulate the start of Part II and what we call the developmen
section.9 Sometimes new themes also end the section, functioning as
the retransition. Many early Classic modulation sections offer largely
entirely new material, a feature of many Mozart developments even in
the early 178os.1o Perhaps the most famous N theme besides the Eroic
theme is the minuet-like lyrical interlude closing the development o
Haydn's Symphony No. 45 (the "Farewell"), first movement (1772), r
cently the subject of detailed analysis and debate."
5 See my article, "Francesco Galeazzi's Description (1796) of Sonata Form," Journa
of the American Musicological Society XXI (1968), 195. Galeazzi recommends that the
theme "for greatest surprise ... be in some related key [not the secondary key], but sep
rated and unexpected."
6 See Heinrich Christoph Koch, Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition, vol.
(Leipzig, 1793), par. 150, 395-96n.
7 Carl Czerny, Practical School of Composition, Op. 6oo, trans.John Bishop, vol. 1 (London,
1848?), Ch. VI, "Of the Sonata," 35.
8 Antoine Reicha, Traiti de haut composition musicale, vol. 2 (Paris, c. 1825), 298 ("De
la seconde partie de la grand coup binaire"). Beethoven's codas also introduce N ideas, a
Reicha recommends, the most famous examples perhaps being the N ideas in the coda
of the Ninth Symphony, movements I and III.
9 Such N themes appear in one or two sonata-form movements in all the middle an
late symphonies by Sammartini in my Garland volume, the symphonies dating from th
1740s to 1772.
,o A late example is the development in Mozart's Piano Sonata in C, K. 330/I, now
dated 1781-83.
" See Judith L. Schwartz, "Periodicity and Passion in the First Movement of Haydn's
'Farewell' Symphony," and James Webster, "The D Major Interlude in the First Movemen
of Haydn's 'Farewell' Symphony," in Studies in Musical Sources and Style. Essays in Honor o
Jan LaRue, ed. Eugene K. Wolf and Edward H. Roesner (Madison, WI, 1990), 293-33
and 339-80.
326
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CHURGIN
When we consider Beethoven's exploitation of this
device, we discover that he both follows and departs
usage. I have focused this survey on the piano, violin,
the string quartets, the String Quintet Op. 29, the co
symphonies, a total of 80o works. Of these, 40-one-h
significant new material in the development sections
movements. This high percentage comes as a surprise
sis of analysts has been on Beethoven's use of derived
than new material in the development section. The su
employment of new material is a major Beethoven te
quires further study.
Though N material appears in music composed
Beethoven's life, the most striking and frequent exam
characteristic of the early period and the early middle
1806. They disappear from the piano sonatas after Op.
1798) except for the two special finales of Opp. 5
1804-06). Rather than the symphonies and sonatas, it
quartets that the procedure is most tenacious, occurr
of the Op. 18 and Op. 59 quartets and four of the
(1824-26), including the second finale of Op. 130, B
completed movement.12 (See the list of works contain
Table I.)
Beethoven also occasionally introduces two or more
ideas in the development, like the two lyrical N them
Sonata Op. 23/I, the two contrapuntal ideas in the
VII, or the long, episode-like N section of the Quarte
riched by four distinctive themes (see Example 2). Be
ness of this device is illustrated by his well-known remar
for the beginning of Part II of the Piano Sonata Op.
The [ma] durchzuffihren"-"without developing the th
The works analyzed embody several types of new id
categories consist of the traditional lyrical theme, w
common type, and contrapuntal ideas. Examples of
occur in 24 movements. Many are modulating, and st
the minor mode, as in the Eroica. Besides the Eroica th
memorable, often long lyrical themes in such wor
Sonatas Op. 2/1/IV, Op. 1io//I, Op. 14/1/I; the firs
the Violin Sonatas Op. 23 and Op. 30/2; the Third Pian
the Violin Concerto (see Example 5); and the Quarte
12 All references to Op. 13o/VI are to the second finale of the q
1s See Ludwig van Beethoven, Autograph Miscellany From circa 17
Museum Additional Manuscript 29801, ff. 39-162 (The "Kafka Sket
Kerman, vol. 2, Transcription (London, 1970), 28.
327
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
TABLE 1
Overview of New Material in Sonata-Form Developme
in Beethoven's Piano, Violin, and Cello Sonatas, String
String Quintet Op. 29, Concertos, and Symphoni
EARLY PERIOD: c. 1793-1800
Piano Sonatas, c. 1 793-98: Op. 2/1/IV and 3/I; Op. 7/I; Op. 10o/
Op. 14/1/I; Op. 49/1/I
Violin Sonatas, 1797-1800: Op. 12/3/I, Op. 23/I
Cello Sonatas, 1796: Op. 5/l/I, 2/I
String Quartets, 1798-1800: Op. 18/1/II; 2/I, IV; 3/IV; 6/I
Concertos, 1795? (rev. 1800), 1800?: Piano Concertos No. I O
Op. 37/I
MIDDLE PERIOD: 1801-o09
Piano Sonatas, 1804-06: Op. 54/II, Op. 57/III
Violin Sonatas, 1801-02: Op. 30/2/I, Op. 47/III
String Quartets, 1806: Op. 59/1, III; 2/11; 3/I, II, IV
String Quintet, 1801: Op. 29/II, IV
Concertos, ca. 1803-09: Piano Concertos No. 4 Op. 58/I; No. 5 Op. 73/I; Violin
Concerto Op. 61/I; Triple Concerto Op. 56/I
Symphonies 1801-08: No. 2 Op. 36/I; No. 3 Op. 55/I; No. 4, Op. 6o/I; No. 6
Op. 68/II
LATE PERIOD: 1815-26
Cello Sonatas, 1815: Op. 102/ 1/I1, 2/I
String Quartets, 1824-26: Op. 127/I; Op. 130/I, III, VI (2nd finale); Op. 131/VII;
Op. 135/I
A special type of lyrical N resembles a rondo episode and occurs at
or near the start of the development of three finales that synthesize
sonata and rondo procedures without actually being sonata-rondos.
The movements involved are in the Piano Sonatas Op. 2/1 and Op. 57,
and the Quartet Op. 13o. These themes, as usual in the rondo style, feature
largely symmetrical units of four and eight measures. Two themes,
in Op. 2/1 and Op. 13o, are extremely long. The N unit in Op. 2/1 is
50'/2 measures (mm. 59-109) and organized in rounded binary form
with varied repeats. It appears in A6 major, the relative major of the
tonic f minor, a key Beethoven studiously avoids in an exposition that
moves to the dominant minor instead. In Op. 13o, a lyrical and contrapuntal
section of 47 measures also appears in A6, here the key of 6VII
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CHURGIN
(mm. 109-55; see Ex. 2). The key of Ab and the melo
late to the Grosse Fuge, the original finale of the quartet
otherwise lacking in the movement. Unlike the other
tire episode returns in the coda in the subdominant
way of recapitulation (mm. 353-99).
The contrapuntal category of N ideas comprises ne
fugal or quasi-fugal and imitative passages, and new
against derived ideas. New fugue subjects are explore
Op. 29/IV (Ex. 3) and in the first movements of the Q
Op. 59/1, and Op. 135; and new countersubjects and ca
material in the Quintet Op. 29/IV, and the Quartets
59/2/II, Op. 127/I, and Op. 131/VII. Other categories
ideas, like the stormy countermotive in the Quartet
Ex. 4); new figural material, especially in the Piano Co
Op. 15 and Five Op. 73, first movements; chromatic p
Piano Sonatas Op. 2/3/I and Op. 54/II, and the C
5/1/1; and humorous but formal melody in the Quint
Moreover, Beethoven varies the placement of his N
can be located at any point in the development. The
theme starting Part II, however, is less favored and
movements-the Piano Sonatas Op. 2/1/IV and Op
Quintet Op. 29/II, the Violin Sonata Op. 30/2/I, the
Op. 56/I, and the Quartet Op. 13o/VI-in addition t
of significant motives and phrases in the Quartet Op.
Symphony Op. 68/II (goldfinch motive),'4 and the
102/1/II and Op. 102/2/I. Three of these follow brie
the development proper, as does the fugal section in
themes or new material come fairly close to the open
opment, after a citation or development of the p
themes, as in the Piano Sonatas Op. 2/3/I and Op.
Piano Concerto Op. 37/I, the Fourth Symphony O
Quartets Op. 130/I and Op. 131/VII. A group of N th
ward the middle or second part of the development,
theme, as in the Cello Sonata Op. 5/2/I, the Quart
the Violin Concerto Op. 61/I, or the second count
Quartet Op. 131 /VII. On the other hand, some mate
matically near or at the end of the development usua
the retransition. Such striking examples are the N u
Sonata Op. 5/1/I, the Violin Sonatas Op. 12/3/I and O
'4 For the identification of the bird as a goldfinch rather than a
Owen Jander, "The Prophetic Conversation in Beethoven's 'Scen
Musical Quarterly LXXVII (1993), 518-21.
329
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 2. Beethoven, String Quartet, Op. 13o/VI, develop
episode-like N section.
109
Vn. I
-n. I A" 0 6v I l - j
res. -,cresc
Vn. II
117D
Scr lest . I cresc.Via,
eO P--d I I IIA I I
crest . cresc.
U.x I", c7- I IOF,res r
- cresc.
creres. P
117 -I O 4
cresc c. crsc.
c r e sF d i m c r e sA I
crest. cresc. rec
resc. cresm. c
IF"
cresr. '
cresc.
12 i 3N + 2N
I IFR-- L-im cresc. P
Ires,. I I . *-?...
oresc. dim. cresc.cresc. dim. cresc.
330
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CHURGIN
EXAMPLE 2. (continued)
133
cresc _ dim cresc.
dim. cresc.
cresccres.
res. dim pp
cresc.
cresc. im res.
140
S cresc.
cresc.
1rest.
-,.k s~c~-~ ,I V
p cre$c.
331
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
Quintet Op. 29/1V; only in the case of Op. 29 does the N theme
distant key, require a brief retransition to the recapitulation.
In most cases N themes possess a distinctive outline and char
though they may incorporate some derived elements. Thus the
theme takes the dotted rhythm from the first secondary theme (wh
emphasized in the buildup to the N theme), and many analysts
tried to prove its triadic connection to the primary theme.'5 Th
subject in the Quartet Op. 59/1/I features a rising sixth, also fou
the two primary themes, while in the Quartet Op. 130/VI, 1N ut
neighbor-note figure appearing in the primary and transitional t
Nevertheless, N ideas may bring material for which little or no
tion can be discovered-like the thirty-second note pattern of the
termotive in the Quartet Op. 18/1/II, or the dotted, march-like r
of the fugue subject and the syncopation of its countersubject
Quintet Op. 29/IV. Both ideas assume a new ' meter versus the '
of the movement that continues in other voices (Example 3). In
case, the dotted rhythm links the fugue with the humorous th
theme ending the development in a slower tempo, the Andan
moto e scherzoso, in yet another meter- 3 .6
Some N ideas are borderline cases and analysts may prefer t
sider them transformations or derivations rather than N ideas. Th
be the case, for example, regarding the lyrical 2N in the Fourth
Concerto Op. 58/I (mm. 231-35). The phrase can be thought of as a
formation of the introductory descending scale idea that domin
the first part of the development (mm. 196-215), though 2N is
ceded not by that idea directly but by a brilliant, cadential 1N un
establishes the tritone key of c# minor in which the lyrical 2N arriv
'5 See the example in Lawrence Earp, "Tovey's 'Cloud' in the First Movement
Eroica. An Analysis Based on the Sketches for the Development and Coda," B
Forum II (1993), 74, and references in n. 10 to such an interpretation by Augus
"Die fremdk6rper im ersten Satz der Eroica," Die Musik XXI (1928/29), 481-8
rich Schenker, "Beethovens Dritte Sinfonie zum erstenmal in ihrem wahren Inhalt
dargestellt," in Das Meisterwerk in der Musik III (Munich, 1930), 50, fig. 24 and Bild i; and
David Epstein, Beyond Orpheus: Studies in Musical Structure (Cambridge, MA, 1979), 116.
16 The interpolation of a new section in a slower tempo is an influence of the da
capo overture. See my article, "The Italian Symphonic Background to Haydn's Early Symphonies
and Opera Overtures," in Haydn Studies, Proceedings of the International Haydn Conference,
Washington, D.C., .1975, ed. Jens Peter Larsen, Howard Serwer, and James Webster
(New York and London, 1981), 331-32; and the revised reprint in Orbis Musicae XII
(1998), 75-76, and n. 12.
'7 Another borderline case is the cantus-firmus-like descending tetrachord and its
extension in the Quartet Op. 127/I, first found in mm. 89-93, with a balancing phrase,
mm. 93, beat 3-97, beat i. The descending line is closely related to the similar bass line
and melodic outline, moving in parallel tenths, in the first phrase of the primary theme
(mm. 7-10), where the fourth note, however, moves up by step. The descending tetrachord
itself appears in the melodic outline of the second phrase (mm. 1 '1-14). Yet, this N
idea has an identity of its own, and it returns in the coda as well, at its start (mm. 241-44),
its climax (mm. 267-71), and its end (viola mm. 275-82).
332
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CHURGIN
EXAMPLE 3. Beethoven, String Quintet, Op. 29/IV, d
fugue subject (IN) and countersubject (2N).
112
Vn. I ... - SF R ., .A p
v... ;. t P v ? "n n-Vn. 11 -if
Via. I1 Y (;' k IF
Via. 11
Vc. 9(
116
P
A Mr
-fez
X F- FJ JOfill 1Ii I O p
A ,, i ,J wp
^ .. " ".4
i . , , , i
IMK ad fttF,9-2FA
.
333
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
Another, remarkable transformation marks the development of
Fourth Symphony Op. 6o/I (mm. 221-40), where the new l
phrase is actually a variation of the assertive, cantus-firmus-like
of the second transitional period (starting in m. 81).'8 Neverthe
this remains a characteristic N idea that introduces a notable contrast in
the section.
As in the Eroica, Beethoven presents 24 N themes in remote keys
thus pairing the concept of new material with distance in tonality (se
Table 2). In c. 1795-1801, seven such examples show the way to th
Eroica (which is dated essentially in 1803), with N material appearing
or starting in the keys of III (Op. 2/3/I), the tritone (Op. 7/I) V
(Op. 5/1/I, Op. 12/3/I, Op. 18/2/I), major VI (Op. 29/IV, 3N), and
minor vii (Op. 29/II). The Eroica N theme also focuses our attention on
the Neapolitan key relation, a favorite with Beethoven. The mino
Neapolitan recurs only once for the key of N, in the finale of the Qua
tet Op. 59/3 (C-c#= d), dated 18o6, and the normal Neapolitan is the
key of 2N in the finale of the Quartet Op. 131, dated 1826 (c#-D
Both examples are post-Eroica. However, 2N in the Violin Sonata Op.
23/I, dated 18oo, though first heard in the tonic key of a minor after
false retransition, ends up in the Neapolitan key of B6 major (mm
152-57) before the tonic is restored to usher in the recapitulation.
In fact, this N theme shares another rare feature with the Eroica
theme-it receives special emphasis by means of extensive repetition.
Like the Eroica theme it is heard three times in the development, with
two full presentations in the tonic and subdominant, together with a
partial repetition in the Neapolitan key just mentioned. Further, the
theme's initial phrase returns in the coda, where it is again heard three
times, twice in the subdominant and tonic, and a third time in the
tonic, with an extension leading to the primary theme that ends the
movement.
The recurrence of N in the recapitulation and/or t
found in 15 movements by Beethoven, including this v
the Eroica (see Table 3).'9 Such recurrence, of course,
18 See Ludwig Misch, "Ein unbemerkter thematischer Zusamme
vens IV. Symphonie," Die MusikforschungV (1962), 375-77.
19 Donald Francis Tovey, article "Sonata Forms," in Musical Artic
clopaedia Britannica (London, 1943), 215-16, mentions examples of
development, which he calls an "episode," and he also refers to the
turn of the "episode" in the coda. In the article by Joseph Kerman, "N
Codas," in Beethoven Studies III, ed. Alan Tyson (Cambridge, 1982),
ter on the coda in Charles Rosen, Sonata Forms, rev. ed. (New York
mention is made of the return of new material in Beethoven's codas b
erence to the Eroica theme by Kerman (152). Nor is the return of
in Robert G. Hopkins, "When a Coda is More than a Coda: Reflect
in Explorations in Music, the Arts, and Ideas. Essays in Honor of Leonar
Narmour and Ruth A. Solie (Stuyvesant, NY, 1988), 393-410.
334
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CHURGIN
TABLE 2
Distant Keys for the Start of N (in Relation to the Tonic Key
1 ii Op. 55, Op. 59/3/IV
611 Op. 131 (2N)
II Op. 54 (PNh-new accompaniment to the primary theme)
SIII Op. 2/3, Op. 15, Op. 102/1
III Op. 6o, Op. 127, Op. 130/I
iv Op. 61
tritone Op. 7, Op. 54 (4N), Op. 58, Op. 59/2, O
bVI Op. 12/3, Op. 18/2/I, Op. 54 (3N)
VI Op. 29/IV, Op. 68/II
SVII Op. 130/VI
, vii Op. 59/1/Ivii Op. 29/II
TABLE 3
Recall of N Material in the Recapitulation and/or Cod
(in the Tonic Key Unless Otherwise Specified)
Op. 2/3: coda, N variant (bVI-I)
Op. 10/3: coda
Op. 18/1: recap and coda
Op. 23: coda, 2N (iv-i)
Op. 29/II: coda, IN, 2N (iv-I); mvt. IV, coda, 3N
Op. 30/2: coda (I)
Op. 54: recap, IN (i), 3N (I-mod.-I), replacing S and K
Op. 55: coda (ii-i)
Op. 68: recap
Op. 102/1/II: coda (bVI-IV-bII)
Op. 127: coda
Op. 130/III: coda (IV-I-V7/IV); mvt. VI, coda (TV-I)
Op. 131: recap, 2N (iv-bII); coda, IN, 2N
new material into the larger structure and expressive world o
ment. Two of these examples recall N in the recapitulatio
in the coda; two Quartets, Op. i8/x/II and Op. 131/VI
ideas in both sections. How this material is recalled differs in each example.
In the Quartet Op. 18/x (see Example 4), two variants of the
development countermotive to the primary theme combine with the
primary theme in the recapitulation (I have labeled them N' and N2),
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 4. Beethoven, String Quartet, Op. 18, no. 1/II: (a) dev
ment, with N countermotive; (b) recapitulation with
and N2; (c) coda, with all three N forms.
(a) 48,NVn.1
i
4 f I f
Vn. II
Sf
Via.
Vc.
50
uF,]-. -- -JJ - - --',,I
S . SfO I "f
f , 4 "a-l .I I 'L... 1.... ... .. .
i i i .-- -.i "I2I;-" ?
I .. . . . .. ... ..N IFh N
'",,,,Sf---v".," ,."i M'W ,
and both return in the coda together with the original version, wh
self leads to the shattering climax of the movement-a most d
elaboration of the idea.
In the Quintet Op. 29, coda returns occur in both the slow
final movements, the entire Andante section of the finale coming
in the tonic, a recapitulatory effect, as in Op. 130/VI. Six of the w
recalling themes in the coda were composed before the Eroica and
thus be viewed as significant precedents for this procedure in the s
phony (these are Op. 2/3/I, Op. o1/3/II, Op. 18/1/II, Op. 23/I,
29/II, IV, Op. 30/2/I).
While Beethoven's models for these recurrences need considerable
research, some inimediate models can be found in compositions b
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CHURGIN
EXAMPLE 4. (continued)
(b)
66
) (p)
VILn
t Clo I I I IF I I. ..I.
iJ1 ' c
P f
(P) f
l v1to 1 1 1 t1a tj11
pf
p f
=.." b
AID.
l--ll 1 1l!! 4iPNA d
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 4. (continued)
(C)
7N'
98 _ -
f
fp f
AF r - ,4:<:Ffpf
fpf
elk
P
p cresc.
fp ciesc.
fo ores?.
101 0-0 1- NO- 0 1 1- 1 c
f
f --I ,
fF
, ,
f? .
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CHURGIN
EXAMPLE 4. (continued)
102 LZ
f f
f f
104 f
A[ b ,f I 1 -11 1 1
fP
f ~
? rw w 4w w 1w,
,-,,]w IF, .h 3l
z.- - , " + "t + " .q" ! . 1 . Id '1
Mozart, as cited by Kerman and Rosen.2o Indeed, Mozart
of N material furnishes a significant background for B
man notes the returns of motivic N ideas in the first-movement codas of
Mozart's String Quartets K. 458 (the "Hunt"; 1784), and K. 590 (179o).
We may add that both ideas conclude the movement, and in K. 590 N
first appears in the distant key of bVII. We should remember, however,
that Haydn's earlier interlude in the "Farewell" symphony is also set in
a distant key-D major, a third-relationship with the tonic, f# minor.
Rosen points to the lyrical N theme found at the start of Part II in the
Piano Sonata in C major, K 330/I (1781-83), which also rounds off the
movement; and to the chromatic N theme that dominates the development
and coda of the Two-Piano Sonata in D, K 448 (1781). Neither
author, however, mentions the themes in the finale of Mozart's A-major
20 See Kerman, "Notes on Beethoven's Codas," 142, and Rosen, Sonata Forms,
321-22.
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
Quartet, K. 464 (1785), a work that Beethoven admired and ev
copied into score.2' He-re, brief new counterpoints to the prim
theme return in the recapitulation and coda, again ending the mov
ment. In addition, Mozart presents a new theme in the middle
the development as a total surprise, a mysterious chorale-like melody
long notes and chordal setting, which is given contrapuntal and deve
opmental expansion.
In conclusion, let us consider the lyrical N theme in Beethoven's V
olin Concerto in D major, first movement. The theme comes in the s
ond part of the development after an intensive reworking of the last fiv
notes of the primary theme's initial phrase, a reworking that takes p
in the orchestra with figuration in the violin. Thus, the N theme pr
vides relief from the motivic development and deepens the lyricism
the movement, while shifting the spotlight to the soloist. It is certai
one of the great moments in the concerto (see Example 5 for the sta
of the theme).
In examining this theme, we should notice the following:
1. Though I call it a theme, like many N ideas it is really an N ar
lasting 26 measures (mm. 331-56), in which a new theme is in
troduced, extended, varied, and fragmented.
2. The N theme is accompanied throughout in the orchestra by t
pervasive tapping motive of the movement. Embedded in the
preceding development of those five notes, the motive event
ally repeats without pause as tension increases toward the retra
sition.
3. As many of Beethoven's N themes, the theme enters in minor,
here g minor, the same key as the lyrical N theme in the rondo
finale. The subdominant key in general acts like the secondary
key of the entire work, G major also being the key of the slow
movement, and it is associated with most of the intensely lyrical
portions of the concerto.
4. The theme, like many N themes, is modulatory, moving from g
minor to E6 major, again the Neapolitan key, and from there to
d minor, used as a foil for the brilliant return to the recapitulation
in D major.
5. Though the theme seems new, like most N themes it contains
some links with earlier material. The rhythmic pattern of its first
two measures (mm. 331-32) duplicates the pattern found in the
21 Only Beethoven's copy of the second movement has survived. Dated c. 18oo, it is
housed in Stockholm, Stiftelsen Musikkulturens frfimjande, Collection of Captain Rudolf
Nydahl.
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CHURGIN
EXAMPLE 5. Beethoven, Violin Concerto, Op. 61/I, de
of the N area.
329
Cor.
(D)
t P [N
VI. pr. I r
I) p
_. A_$ PP
333
. -0-. No -0 - - - Me
A zc
3 3-3
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THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 5. (continued)
337
Fg.
Cor. 1___
(D)
cresc. 6
341
III
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CHURGIN
first transition theme (mm. 18-19); the prom
stem perhaps from the third secondary the
and the poignant sigh motives echo such motiv
theme itself.
This theme validates the device of new development material in every
aspect.
Bar-Ilan University
343
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