Quinn Parsley

Music Theory 3

Analysis of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata op. 24, III

For this piece, I chose to label the form as a continuous two-reprise rounded binary form. First, I would
label this as a rounded binary form because of the obvious A section followed by a B section that
contains half of the A section. I labeled this piece “continuous” because the A section ends on a half
cadence which prevents it from achieving a sense of finality at the end of this section. It ends on a
feeling of instability that needs resolution. I further labeled this as being a “two-reprise” form because
the A section is repeated twice. On the repeat, a violin melody is added; however this section remains
melodically and harmonically identical to the first section so it is basically just a written out repeat of the
entire A section.

On the phrase level, I called the two phrases that make up the A section a “parallel period” structure.
Each phrase is four measures long and ends on a perfect authentic cadence. Although the second of
these phrases is in the dominant key of C instead of the tonic key of F, the aural effect of this is still that
of a period structure. I labeled this as a parallel period as the beginnings of the two phrases are
identical.

For the B section, the b phrase modulates to D minor and remains there for the entire duration.
Although measure 20 does not exhibit a clear sense of finality that is typical of some cadences, it does
end on the V of i in D minor which is typical of a half cadence. Also, measure 21 is clearly a restatement
of a from the beginning. Because of this relationship of weak to strong cadences between the two
phrases, I have chosen to label b and a within the B section as a contrasting period seeing as neither
phrase starts with similar material.

Finally, for the remaining three measures (25, 26, and 27), I have chosen to label these as a “codetta”
since they are merely an extension of a that occurs right at the end of the piece.