MUSI 2080 Music Analysis Ass_#1

Zimou CHEN (Simon) 3035453921

This is a slow and cantabile movement (see example 1) in A flat major to ease the stormy and
heroic impression by c minor of the sonata. While the movement is slow, the tempo of two
fourths, combined with continuous patterned sixteenth notes as accompaniment in alto part,
offers a distinctive meter dynamic (downbeat-upbeat) and therefore a lively rhythmic sense to
smoothen trickles of the melody.
The motive can be identified as escape tones (x) that organize the music into separable cells. The two
phrases illustrate a complete musical plot with a start, a climax, and an end in a single period.
The first phrase (bar 1-4) goes from I to V. The basic idea appears in the first 2 bars. The melody is going
up along with escape tones that leaps go upwards and finally hit the climax at B flat in bar 3. A strong
musical impulse falls on the tonic chord (I6) with top voice of E flat (^) addressed by a careful leap of 4th,
while it also being dotted to deliver a longer rhythmic presence. This well-pronounced chord emphasizes
the tonic feature of the first phrase and makes the melody ready to move to the dominant. The chord then
is followed by a passage of liquidation that accelerates harmonic rhythm to converter music into the
dominant and reach the half cadence in bar 4.
The second phrase (bar 5-8) returns from V to I. The melody goes down with escape tones where leaps
head downwards and form a contrasting idea. Similar to the first phrase, the second phrase prepares its
first musical impulse by a dominant chord (^) jumping from a vii half-diminished chord. This creates an
emphasis on dominant feature of the second phrase and generates a strong tendency to resolve to the
tonic. The rhythmic feature also helps the harmonic development be more engaging, as accents (^) in the
motive now are off-beat and fall on upbeats. This reminds me the Beethoven beloved syncopation. It
brings unexpected rhythmic dynamic and generates further musical tension until finally (through a
cadential idea in bar 7) resolved to the tonic on the downbeat of bar 8.

Example 1