STRUCTURE AND ORIGINALITY IN THE FIRST MOVEMENT, PIANO SONATA OP. 31 NO. 2 BY L. VAN BEETHOVEN
This is an essay I wrote for Dr. Bush’s research class at UNT which I had posted on my other blog. I thought it might be of interest for readers of this blog also.
The essay is a little sketchy—I finished most of these assignments in one evening, some of them in the early dawn hours.
So it’s just a graduate school assignment.
But I still think the idea behind the paper is good, to try to use information theory and apply them in music analysis.
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STRUCTURE AND ORIGINALITY IN THE FIRST MOVEMENT PIANO SONATA OP. 31 NO. 2 BY L. VAN BEETHOVEN
“Structures are equivalent to mental forms. The more structured a message is, the more intelligible it is, the more redundant it is, the less originality it has.”
Abraham Moles
Music can be defined as a sonic message, a finite ordered set of elements drawn from a repertoire of symbols and assembled in a structure defined by the listener. It can be perceived on several structural levels; the macro-structure, the intermediate structure, and the micro-structure. However, structure presupposes redundancy. It creates forseeability. The success of a composer is therefore highly dependent on the way he balances the elements of redundancy inherent in structure against those of originality.
The concept of originality is tightly bound up with that of periodicity. Periodicity in the sonic message is manifested on different levels. First, on the purely acoustic level as rhythm and pitch, and second, on a higher level, it denotes continuity. The repetition of any sonic event, object, cell, or melodic phrase results in periodicity, and decreases its originality.
In 1802, when Beethoven composed piano sonata op. 31 no. 2, he was still too much of a classicist to attempt to tamper with the macro-structure, the form. Beethoven was primarily interested in the intermediate level, the basic punctuations defining and delineating the form. This comprises the basic parameters of music, the melodic, the harmonic, the rhythmic, and the textural.
The exposition of a classical sonata is defined mainly by two elements: (i) two contrasting themes, (ii) two contrasting keys. In Op. 31, No. 2, however, on the purely aural level, one can identify not less than five motivic ideas.
Ex. 1. Motivic ideas. L. v. Beethoven, Op. 31, No.2 1st movement
Contrary to the textbook formula, the principal and second themes are closely related motivically while the rest of the themes are quite unrelated motivically or texturally. The old cliché about unity in diversity seems appropriate here. None of the ideas are overworked. Each seems to contrast perfectly with its preceding idea.
In the development, there are two departures from the norm. First, the use of the largo idea creates an immediate sense of ambiguity in the formal structure and secondly, the exclusive use of “fringe” material from the exposition. This is carried into the recapitulation. The reappearance of the largo idea and the extension “con expressione e semplice” is a masterstroke. As well as creating more ambiguity, it also shows how, by constantly doing the unexpected, Beethoven is increasing the originality element. However, this is never at the expense of overloading the piece with excess information. Each new piece of information is carefully selected to negate any earlier redundancy. The diversity of the elements is never so great that it causes unintelligibility, and the repetition never so insistent that it results in boredom.
Melody is not the only element on the intermediate structural level that punctuates the form. However, it remains more pronounced than the other parameters. Harmonically, Beethoven does not produce any great surprises. In measure 161, he does use an enharmonic common tone to effect an abrupt modulation. Although by no means revolutionary, it does create an element of surprise, originality factor again.
Beethoven uses dynamics mainly to reinforce the other elements. In measure 32 and other similar measures, he reinforces the tonal accent, in measures 55-68, the rhythmic accent (syncopation), and in measure 103, the harmonic accent.
Finally, brief mention should be made of the use of textural variety to contribute to the degree of originality in the overall structure. This occurs at the end of the exposition (measures 87-96) to demarcate the sections.
There has been much debate as to what constitutes a major work as opposed to the ordinary, the mediocre. It is my contention that a great work has, among its many qualities, one of perfect balance, between structure and originality, between formulae and inspiration. And this is what makes Op. 31 No. 2 such a compelling work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kohs, Ellis. Musical Form. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1976, p. 261-289.
Moles, Abraham. Information Theory and Esthetic Perception, translated by Joel Cohen, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Chicago, and London, 1968.
Schwejda, Donald. An Investigation of the Analytical Techniques used by Rudolph Reti in The Thematic Process in Music, Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1967.