DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 24, 2020)

How will Beethoven follow up the tearful farewell of the second movement? The answer might surprise us: with a playful Rondo!

On June 17th, we examined how a limited dance form, the Minuet, became transformed by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, first into a more creative Minuet, and then the playful Scherzo, or musical joke. Today we will do the same for the Rondo. A “Rondo” is a form that constantly returns to the same theme, thus its name, meaning round. The form is taught to undergraduate music students as ABA, or ABACA, or even ABACADA—the invariant being the return to A. Unfortunately it seldom gets past that.

Like the Minuet, it was created in 17th century France. This Rondeau by Chambonnieres is so predictable you could set your clock by it.

A (8 measures) 0:02

A repeats (8 measures) 0:12

B (16 measures) 0:21

A (8 measures) 0:42

A repeats (8 measures) 0:51

C a variant of B (16 measures) 1:01

A (8 measures) 1:24

A repeats (8 measures) 1:33

For Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven there is little of interest in something that predictable: they increasingly want new developments! Thus, they will make a return to A seem like a surprise, or new discovery, every time. They will also play with your expectations, and give you something different. The transitions are often like long cadenzas, and prepare those surprises for us.

Let us follow just the basic outline of the third movement. Today we give the times for the recording performed by Alfred Brendel and Simon Rattle.

We also include the recording by Furtwangler and Conrad Henson for comparison.

You can find Grimaud's rendition in yesterday's posting of the entire work.

The 3rd movement starts with the A theme, but not in the main key of G major; it's in C major. Why? It is to provide a continuity with the second movement’s E minor. The single note E, connects the two movements. At about 0:45 a long transition begins, until the piano arrives at B, at 1:11. The seemingly simple piano melody has an equal counterpart in the left hand.

At 1:39 another transition begins. Where will it end up? When we return to A at 2:32, does it sound like the same-old, same -old, or is it refreshing? At 3:22, another short transition, into another surprise beginning at 3:49. The first few notes of A are in canon. Listen for the pizzicati in the strings. At 4:23 the solo piano once again slows down to approach a change, To our surprise at 4:34, B sings again, but more beautifully and in a different key than the first time.

At 5:02 we begin to transition again. Notice that the transitions are usually based on motifs of the main themes. At 5:37, another surprise: a slow and gentle version of A slips in without a long cadential build-up. Then such a cadenza leads us back to a full statement of A at 6:10. B pokes its head in at 7:10. Are we still dealing with different themes here? At 7:50 we hear a written-out formal cadenza.

We will you leave you, our readers ad libitum, to characterize the ending.