Form

Interesting to observe as Op. 13 is still the early sonata of Beethoven – the “formative”
period as described by music scholars; YET Beethoven already experimented and expressed
many new directions, besides obviously showing the mastery/craftmanship of writing sonata
in a high classic style of Haydn and Mozart.

The form of this sonata is already expansive: sonata-allegro with theme groups.
Exposition (1-132)
Development (133-194)
Recapitulation (195-294)
Coda (295-310)

The exposition has a slow “introduction” (as many scholars stated), HOWEVER, this so-called
“introduction” appears at many places in this work 🡪 is it still considered as “introduction?”
it appears in mm. 1-10; 133-136; 295-298.

The exposition has theme groups since there are 2 T1 and 2 T2. These themes are BUILT
UPON the same motives: pedal point and Mannheim rocket theme 🡪 the importance of
structural coherence in Beethoven’s music.
T1A in C minor = mm. 1-10
T1B in C minor = mm. 11-88
T2A in E-flat minor = mm. 51-88
T2B in C minor = mm. 89-112
Closing theme = mm. 113-132.

The development (usually the dramatic passage of the music) is rather short 🡪 WHY?
Perhaps due to the long exposition, which is unusual. As stated that Beethoven is concerned
with structural coherence, he is also concerned with being the most economical composer
who is known to use motives as simple as possible while developing/transforming those
motives in an unprecedented degree.

Recapitulation is presented differently form the exposition, which is ALWAYS the case in
Beethoven’s music.
1. T1A is missing.
2. The sense of development is still present by harmonic instability in mm. 207-220.
3. T1B is shortened.
4. T2A, T2B, and closing theme are presented equally with the exposition.

There are 2 codas, derived from T1A and T1B. Coda in Beethoven’s music is normal to be
lengthy since Beethoven often wrote coda as the “second” development. Examples can also
be observed in Piano Sonata, Op. 57 “Appasionata” or Symphony no. 5 (1st and 4th
movements).
Melody/Texture/rhythm
The melody (or motives in this case) are again, built upon 2 elements: pedal point and
Mannheim rocket.
1. The pedal point can be observed in all theme groups, creating the sense of strong
harmonic stability.
2. The Mannheim rocket theme, as called by music historians, is a theme which melody
goes up rapidly creating a sense of “rocket.” This texture is so common in the
mid-to-late 18th century; in fact, almost all music in this period was written in this
way.

T1A describes the majestic genre of French overture, characterized by slow, dotted rhythm.
T1B is written in the orchestral imagination (always this case in Beethoven’s music), with the
timpani figure is so prominent.
T2A is an exchange play among woodwind instruments.
T2B is more like tutti.

Dynamic extreme between forte and piano with sudden changes (subito dynamic) describes
the common style at that time 🡪 sturm und drang (storm and stress).

1/128 rhythm is totally unusual at that time, along with sextuplet and septuplet (m. 10).

The constant use of Sfz is common in Beethoven.

Harmony
The harmonic structure of this sonata is fairly traditional, although the second theme does
not go immediately to its median, instead its parallel median. OTHERWISE, both T1s are in
the tonic as expected, then T2A and T2B are in parallel median and median respectively.

T1A: The progression to diminished chords seem a lot 🡪 intensify the drama.
T1B: fairly strong relationship between tonic and dominant. Other than that, some
modulatory passages with chromatic chords (like the Gr6) may see too “early” for an
exposition.
T2A: surprise! Not only in E-flat minor but also not in the root position (unstable).
T2B: Legit E-flat major with bass and soprano creating basic counterpoint.

About Sonata
Sonata in the Western music history can be discussed in 2 ways: as a genre and as a form.
BOTH are equally interesting since they underwent such development and transformation
throughout historical eras.

As a genre:
1. First written in Italy during Renaissance era, perhaps by Andrea Gabrieli.
2. At first, the term sonata does not have an exact definition since it means “to play”
instead of “to sing” (cantare).
3. Sonata in the Baroque era: solo sonata and trio sonata, which the latter was more
popular. The trio sonata was performed in 2 different occasions: at church and at the
court, called sonata da chiesa and sonata da camera respectively.
 4. In the mid-18th century, sonata became so popular that many composers wrote it
WITH various number of movements, ranging from 1 to 5 movements. Important
composers included Domenico Scarlatti, Antonio Soler, Johann Christian Bach, and
Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach.
5. The sonata became a three-movement sonata during the period of Haydn and
Mozart 🡪 later expanded by Beethoven and Schubert into four movements. They
also experimented with writing two-movement sonata.
6. Since then until the present time, sonata genre has no further transformation as it
remains stable.

As a form:
1. The standard exposition-development-recapitulation as we know today was perhaps
established by Heinrich Christoph Koch (1749-1816).
2. The exposition means the first part that exposes at least 2 contrasting themes, with
expected harmonic structure of tonic-dominant or tonic-mediant. A closing theme is
expected to end the exposition.
3. The development means the second part that dramatize the music through various
modulations; in Beethoven and Schubert, development part became lengthy, not just
the “middle” part between exposition and recapitulation.
4. The recapitulation means the third part that restate the exposition in tonic-tonic
relationship. As time progressed, composers tend not to state the recap in the similar
fashion with the exposition.
5. Coda is the tail, commonly written with tonic pedal point; in Beethoven and
Schubert, coda is so much more than just a tail, sometimes it refers to the “second”
development.