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Beethoven and the Battle with Form
The Violin
Concerto
In D Major
Op 61 (1806)
Presented by Akram Najjar
(Thanks to the Hospitality of Samir Khayat)
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadenza
Transition
T1
T2
T3
T4
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
Karaz w Laimoon
Presented by Akram Najjar
(Thanks to the Hospitality of Samir Khayat)
3 / 46
This talk was given earlier, in a shorter form in Karaz w Laimoon
Activities: Monday Talks, Music Club, Cine Club, Book Club, Trips, etc.
Visit www.karazwlaimoon.com
Go to Music Club / Beethoven Violin Concerto (At Samir Khayat’s)
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4 / 46
Agenda --- Tonight
1) Placing Beethoven and the Concerto in Context
2) Critical terms and definitions + Musical examples
3) The Sonata Allegro Form
4) The First Movement of the First Piano Sonata + Musical examples
5) The Beethovenian Breaking Point
6) 8 Creativity Strokes by Beethoven + Musical examples
7) Movement 1 / Movement 2 / Movement 3
8) The Full Concerto by Sergey Katchatryan + Full Video
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6 / 46
Beethoven’s Life Line
and Key Milestones
1770 1827‘02
57 years
Vienna (35 years)
‘78
First
Vienna
Trip
‘92
Settles in
Vienna
for Good Heiligenstadt
Testament
Bonn (22 years)
‘97
Deafness
Starts
Violin
Concerto
‘06
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The 3 Beethoven Periods
by Year + Opus Number
1770 1827‘12
Early
(32 yrs)Late
(57 yrs)
Middle
(42 yrs)
Op 1 to 27 96-13828-95
‘02
Heiligenstadt
Testament
8 / 46
The Concerto’s Neighbors
in the Middle of the Middle Period Op 55 - Symphony No 3 in F “Eroica” 1801
Op 56 - Triple Concerto in C 1804-05
Op 57 - Sonata No 23 in F min “Appassionata” 1804-06
Op 58 - Piano Concerto No 4 1805-06
Op 59 - The 3 Rasumovsky Quartets 1806
Op 60 - Symphony No 4 in B flat 1807
Op 61 - The Violin Concerto in D major 1806
Op 62 - Coriolan Overture 1807
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Op 67 - Symphony No 5 in C min 1808
Op 68 - Symphony No 6 in in F major ("Pastoral") 1808
OP 69 - Cello Sonata No 3 in A major 1808
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The Reason for the Concerto
Franz Clement was a great violinist and a close friend of Beethoven
Clement gave Beethoven advice when composing Fidelio
The Concerto was written for him
BUT dedicated to Stephan von Breuning, a childhood and lifelong friend
The Concerto reflected Clement’s expertise:
Lyricism and warmth – making the violin sing
High register
No acrobatic virtuosity
Sometimes you can hear the violin “whistle” in this Concerto
Writing for Clement had a major influence on the Form of the Concerto
At least on the Massive First Movement: 26 minutes
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The Structure of the Concerto
Movement 1: Allegro non Troppo (D maj)
(Sonata Allegro Form)
(26 minutes)
Movement 2: Larghetto (G maj)
(Theme and Variations)
(10 min)
Movement 3: Rondo Allegro (D maj)
(10 min)
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Classical Works consist of Movements
and Movements consist of Sections
The Whole Work
Movement 1
Movement 2
Movement 3
Movement 4
Each Movement
Section
Section
Section
Section
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Classical Form and Sections of Typical Movements
Beethoven followed standard “textbook” style Classical Forms
1) Sonata Allegro Form: Exposition / Development / Recapitulation
Not for Sonatas --- And not for Allegros … just a bad naming
2) Ternary Forms: A - B - A or A - B - A - C - A - B - A
3) Theme and Variations: A - A’ - A’’ - A’’’ - A’’’ - A
4) Rondos: A – episode – A’ – another episode – A’’ – . . .
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What are Themes?
Themes: small units of notes. Not complete melodies.
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony: the Fate Motif
Beethoven’s 3rd (Eroica) Symphony: first movement
Beethoven’s 7th Symphony: second and third movements
Melodies are usually longer and have a completeness about them
not usually found in themes
Several themes can make up a melody
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What are Cadences?
Cadence = a musical phrase announcing the end of a section or a movement
It can be final: like Amen . . . . Or the end of Happy Birthday . . . .
It can be an interim temporary cadence
It can even be a false or a tricky when a composer wants you to think there is
an end coming soon but then restarts in a different way
Cadence NOT = CADENZA
CADENZA = a section in a Concerto for Soloists to improvise on their own
There are two in this Concerto: end of Movements 1 and 3
Note: at the end of a Cadenza, the soloist plays a TRILL to warn the
Conductor
Note: there is a superposition of themes in the first one
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What are Transitions = Modulations = Bridges?
This is a passage from one section to the next
Purpose: to introduce the next section OR
Purpose: to take the work from one key to another
The 3 terms are “almost” interchangeable
We will use Transition
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Beethoven and Classical Forms:
Let us compare two works by Beethoven
The First Movement of: Sonata in F minor Op 2 No 1
The First Movement of: Violin Concerto in D Major Op 61
We will then ask the question:
What happened between Op 2 and Op 61?
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What is the Sonata Allegro Form?
The Sonata Allegro Form is a form applied to a single movement
Most First Movements are in Sonata Allegro Form
BUT it has been found in other movements
The Form has nothing to do with Sonatas nor with Allegros!
It is found in Concertos, Symphonies, Trios, Quartets, Overtures, etc.
The form started life in the early classical period:
CPE Bach / Haydn (mid/late 1700’s)
It was immediately adopted and is still common
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The “Standard” Sonata Allegro Form
(Mozart / Haydn / Beethoven / Schubert)
1) Exposition
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
3) Recap
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
1) Expo
Repeat
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
Intro
du
ctio
n
Co
da
2) Development
T1T2
T3
T4
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Sonata Allegro for Concertos is Different.
It Contains a Double Exposure
Exposure 1 is for the Orchestra
Exposure 2 is for the Soloist
In Expo 2, some new material is often written for the Soloists
The two exposures are normally very similar in structure
But Beethoven and normal do not mix
Exception: Beethoven’s Op 58 Piano Concerto No 4 starts with the Soloist!
Exception: Beethoven’s Op 73 Piano Concerto No 5 (Emperor) the soloist
and orchestra start together
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Sonata No 1 (Op 2) in F minor (1793)
Movement 1
No introduction – Beethoven goes straight to Theme 1
Not even a coda (or maybe a very very short one)
Themes 1 and 2 are very simple – they are not full melodies!
Theme 1 goes up a scale then curls a little.
Theme 2 almost reverses theme 1: down and curl
Transition from T1 to T2 is a simple modulation
It takes us from F minor to A major (the key whose relative minor F minor is)
The Cadence after T2 is a simple phrase which closes the Exposition
Beethoven repeats the Exposition VERBATIM
The Sonata Allegro in Sonata 1
1) Exposition
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
3) Recap
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
1) Expo
Repeat
Theme 1
Theme 2
Cadence
Transition
2) Development
T1
T2
All in 3 min 10 seconds
1806:
13 years later, Beethoven writes
the Violin Concerto.
NOTHING as simple as above.
Why?
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What happened between Op 2 and Op 61?
1802: Beethoven realized he was going
severely deaf and was about to kill himself.
(Heiligenstadt Testament)
Beethoven was severely constrained by
Classical Forms.
Overcoming deafness while overcoming
Mozart and Haydn was his release!
One Solution: Beethoven kept the
external form “reasonably” the same
But he destroyed it from the inside . . . .
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Creativity 1: Overall Structure
Movement 1 is massive and much longer than the other 2:
Movement 1 = 26 while 2 and 3 are around 10 minutes each
Movement 2 is usually a Scherzo (Ternary) A – B – A
Here, it is a Theme and Variation (usually reserved for final movements)
Even its structure does not follow a standard Theme and N Variations
There is a theme B and it comes in the middle (not like Double Variations)
There are interlude that are not variations (like episodes in Rondos)
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Creativity 2: The Themes of Movement 1
It is usual with Beethoven to use short themes to manipulate and develop
We heard some before
In the concerto, we have two highly lyrical melodies for Themes 1 and 2
They are long and complete and similar
They are in the same key (where they are supposed to be in D and A)
They are difficult to develop and we will not hear them “manipulated”
Problem: how can he develop Themes 1 and 2 extensively?
Solution: he does not. He keeps them intact but develops other
components, ingeniously
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Same Problem: Different Solutions
73 years later, Tchaikovsky writes his own Violin Concerto in D major
No one can write songs in large works as well as he does
But Tchaikovsky is facing a problem:
German structures / construction / formal composition versus
Russian melodies and lyricism
He could not avoid the first . . . . but he was a master of the second
He introduced two most beautiful themes because “he cannot help it”
Beethoven wanted the Concerto to be lyrical (as a choice) + for Clement
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Solutions?
Tchaikovsky:
But the melodies are more than great . . . .
He respected the form nut his transitions, cadences and developments are
Boring / Over-ornamented / Not related to the Two Themes
Beethoven:
Changes the overall structure of the Concerto
Movement 1 is highly “constructive”
Movement 2 is melancholic and lyric while Movement 3 is almost a dance
Development is applied to transitions / drum taps / cadences / codas
Small themes are tackled and developed
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Creativity 3: Development in Movement 1
Drum Taps (the 4 beats) are used as
Intros / Base lines / Part of melodies / Transitions
(and by different instruments)
Transitions are expanded into several sections
They are almost development sections on their own
Cadences are also expanded into several sections
Even Codas are extensive (in all movements)
Transitions, Cadences and Codas borrow themes from each other
They are made up of small themes
Love Song Dialog + Escalator theme + Downward theme
New material is introduced “anywhere” and also developed
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Creativity 4: The Weird Structure of Movement 1
We will see after these slides that the Soloist’s Exposition is most unusual
Beethoven disrupts the “parallel” structure between Expo 1 (orchestra) and
Expo 2 (soloist)
He creates a most unusual structure . . . More soon
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Creativity 5: Harmonic Innovation
Classical forms have standard harmonic relationships
Example: Sonata Allegro Form --- say, our Concerto in D major
Theme 1 will be in D major
Theme 2 will be in A major (which is the dominant or the key of 5th note of D)
Themes 1 and 2 are in D major in the Expo
Beethoven does not always respect that (all shown in the subtitles)
Theme 2 is in D major and the second half is in D minor
Drum taps are sounded in D sharp, very far from D major
In Exposure 2, he goes into distant keys . . . C major, etc.
Musical analysis articles spend most of their time analyzing key relationships
and harmonic structures
This is too complex to handle in this talk
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Creativity 6: The 4 Drum Taps
The Concerto starts with 4 beats on the Tympani
There are 4 in one bar and 1 starts theme 1 in the 2nd bar
First, they are a rhythmic statements
Then they are used as accompaniments, transitions or counterpoints
They are expressed by different instruments
Sometimes they are expressed as 4 beats, and sometimes as 5
Once, they are truncated into 3 notes (I will point it out)
Beethoven is using non-melodic material for development
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The 4 Drum Taps in Other Works
Piano Concerto No 4 in G (Op 58)
String Quartet No 7 in F (Op 59/1) “Razumovsky”
Symphony No 5 in C min (Op 67)
AND as we showed . . . the First Sonata!
And many others . . .
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Creativity 7: White Spaces
It is important to think of the things that an Artist does not do but that we
expect him to do
Beethoven does not use Counterpoint / Fugal Writing in this highly lyrical
piece
We should compare it with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D
Written in 1878, or 72 years later
Virtuosity is not emphasized
Complex melodies are not used
Themes are not contrasted (as they are similar in nature)
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Creativity 8: Duration of Movements
But Beethoven still has a problem . . . . Movement 1 was conceived to be
highly complex while retaining the required lyricism . . . .
How to balance the 3 movements?
Movement 1: 26 minutes
Movement 2:
10 min
Movement 3:
10 min
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Movement 1: Allegro non Troppo (D maj)
(Sonata Allegro Form)
Massively large movement
Maintains the Global structure of Sonata Allegro Form
BUT destroys our expectation of the internal structure of the sections
Highly lyrical
No competition between the soloist and the orchestra
Contains a Cadenza for the soloist
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Exposure 1: Orchestra
Drum Taps start as rhythmic unit
Themes are lyrical but broken down into small units
T1 and T2 are never contrasted against one another – very similar
Theme 2 is repeated in D minor (unusual, already it is supposed to be in A
major)
OK, this is more complex than Movement 1 in Sonata 1
But what about Exposure 2 (Soloist)?
T1 Transition CadenceT2Intro
Drum
Taps
Lyric
Escalator (3)
Downward Slope
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Drum Taps
Tutti Rise
Dialog
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Exposure 2 for the Soloist
Should we not Expect Duplication of Exposure 1?
T1 Transition CadenceT2Intro
Drum
Taps
Lyric
Escalator (3)
Downward Slope
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Drum Taps
Tutti Rise
Dialog
T1 Transition CadenceT2Intro
Drum
Taps
Lyric
Escalator (3)
Downward
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Drum Taps
Tutti Rise
Dialog
Ex1
Ex2
Since when does Beethoven do things the way we “expect”?
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Exposure 2: Starts normally
then duplicates parts of Exposure 1
T1 Transition
Cadence
T2Intro
Drum
Taps
Lyric
Upward Rise (3)
Down Slope
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Drum Taps
Tutti Rise (C Major)
Dialog
T1 Transition New CadenceT2Intro
Solo Lyric
Upward Rise (3)
Down Slope
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Drum Taps
Tutti Rise
Dialog
Pt 4 + Pt 5 + Pt 6
Transition
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
T2
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Intro
Solo
Cadence
Drum Taps
Tutti Rise
Dialog
Development
Ex1
Ex2
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The Development
Development is made up of
4 Sections + 1 Cadence
The sections use Themes 1 and 2
They also use material from earlier Transitions
and Cadences
The 4 parts are very lyrical
Part 2 is almost like a Chopin Nocturne
Most of the genius of this movement is in the
manipulation of keys . . . . Harmonic ambiguity
That is too complex to discuss (at least for me)
T1
T2
Cadences
Transitions
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Recapitulation
We expect the Recap to have the same structure as the
Exposition
It only has a single run (not a double expo)
It borrows structures from Exposure 2 and mixes them with
Exposure 1
Not a single section is like its earlier counterpart
All are developed
New Item: a Cadenza for the violin
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Recapitulation: Starts normally
then duplicates parts of Exposure 1
T1 Transition T2Intro
Drum
Taps
Escalator (7)
Down Slope (2)
Escalator (3)
Tutti
(in 2 parts)
Lyric (Major)
Lyric (Minor)
Transition CADENZA
Cadence
Drum Taps
Parts 1 to 6
Coda End Cadence
Parts 1 to 3
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Movement 2: Theme and Variation or Is It?
We should expect a Scherzo: A – B – A
We get Theme and Variations but with 2 themes
There is a standard form for Double Theme A – B – A’ – B’ – A’’ – B’’ . . . .
This is not it! The structure of Movement 2 is weird
Beethoven introduces a Second Theme B and varies it once
He introduces a lot of Interludes . . . .
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Movement 2: Structure Theme A
Variation 1 on theme A
Variation 2 on theme A
Variation 3 on theme A
Interlude 1
Theme B
Variation 4 on theme A
Interlude 2
Variation on theme B
Repeat of Interlude 2
Coda and straight into Movement 3
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Movement 3: Rondo Allegro
(At last something recognizable)
Rondo
Episode 1
Rondo 1
Episode 2
Transition to Rondo 2
Rondo 2
Transition to Episode 3
Episode 3
False Cadence
Cadence to CADENZA
CADENZA
Trill announces end of Cadenza
Change of KEY transition to Rondo 3
Rondo 3 (on Violin)
Coda
Final Cadence
And
now
let
these
two
speak