So. The second movement ends as a cliffhanger: we have reached the dominant of E flat major, but we’re only halfway home. (MUSIC) And the opening of the last movement doesn’t bring the resolution yet: we get the same dominant, only no longer shyly, but rather in a flurry of enthusiasm. (MUSIC) This is a bit like the link between the last two movements in the Appassionata, even though the characters of the two works could not be more different. The same chord that quietly ended the second movement, (MUSIC) furiously begins the third (MUSIC), and we need a whole trip up and down the keyboard before we hit the home key. (MUSIC) But back to the lebewohl. We’ve had the farewell, and the absence: in case it’s not already blindingly obvious, this is the return. And the joy is painted as vividly as the sorrow of the previous movement: there is not a dark cloud anywhere. (MUSIC) While there might not be specific storytelling – I don’t think we’re meant to hear particular events, phrase by phrase – the overarching story is crystal clear: the euphoria of this movement is imprinted into its nearly every phrase. This is a sonata form, not a rondo; what I just played is its exposition, and it’s a pretty straight-ahead sonata exposition, with the possible exception of the relative lack of variety of material: Beethoven is so focused on the euphoria, contrast is not really the priority here; it’s all different shades of happy. The opening theme is naïve, (MUSIC) the transition towards the second is at first exultant, (MUSIC) and then, in the closest thing there is to a break from the joy, sort of playfully angry. (MUSIC) Then the second theme itself is dolce. (MUSIC) And the wrap-up, once again, totally exultant. (MUSIC) The "allegro" portion of the first movement, with its appogiaturas, and flat sixes, and intimation of horn calls, had an emotional complexity and hints of sorrow– Lebewhol, after all. This, by contrast, is the happiest of E flat Majors. The development, while not ever really dark, is much more exploratory, both emotionally and harmonically. (MUSIC) There’s some harmonic wanderlust here, with Beethoven moving, in very short order, through E flat minor (MUSIC), to G flat Major (MUSIC), to B Major! (MUSIC) to G major (MUSIC) to C Major (MUSIC), before landing finally on the subdominant of A flat. (MUSIC) ...And we’re back! That transition really gets to the light heart of this piece. Instead of a V-I cadence (MUSIC), which happens a good 95% of the time, Beethoven gives us a blink-and-you-missed-it plagal cadence of IV-I. (MUSIC) This is barely harmonically coherent. There are cases, of course, of Beethoven avoiding the dominant as the main harmonic foil in a sonata movement – the Waldstein is just the most famous example – but the return is nearly always a strong V-I cadence. I think it’s not a coincidence that this is the piece where he relaxes his rules – repeatedly. Here, pure feeling trumps form, and the feeling in this movement is irrepressible, sometimes even silly, joy. The recapitulation functions just as one would expect it to, but leads to a coda which once again tweaks the narrative of the piece. (MUSIC) I called it a coda, but maybe, given that this piece is all about storytelling, "epilogue" would be a better choice of word. Really, the end of the recapitulation (MUSIC), it could be the end of the piece: it needs nothing more. But Beethoven wraps the piece up in a far more powerful way by subtly recollecting the first movement: the material is strictly from this movement, but for the first time, it has a touch of nostalgia. (MUSIC) At the last moment, though, every sad thought and trace of nostalgia is banished, and the high spirits of the last movement rule the day. (MUSIC) This sonata is obviously historically important because of the way it launched program music as a genre: by its emphasis on story-telling and tone painting. But really, its most remarkable feature is its compactness: the way it develops its materials so richly in such a short time. Beethoven was always a master of development – of exploring his materials. But in this sonata his gift for development takes an almost psychological aspect; you feel that the materials are being turned inside out. This, more than the evocation of horn calls, or the literary aspect, or all that ultimately external stuff, really helps point the way towards the late sonatas. The Lebowhl doesn’t belong to that period, but unlike the two previous sonatas from this lecture, in it you hear Beethoven recalibrating the form, his own style, and in doing so, peering into the future.
